


Burning Hope

by childofdreamz



Series: Wayward Dream Saga [4]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Post-Anime, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-08 18:03:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5507555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofdreamz/pseuds/childofdreamz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Continuation of Endangered Hope; Takeru Takashi has had to face a lot of danger thanks to Kitsumon and things are only going to continue to get tougher from here on out. Will Takeru and Patamon manage to survive until the end and even if they do will Takeru's Hope still be intact at the end of everything?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> A/N - Sorry for this being so late life happens though just remember that I promised that no matter how long it takes me to update I will not leave a story unfinished. It is something I hate more then anything!
> 
> Original Characters descriptions will be gone through again as a general refresher since its been awhile for some of them when they are actually met face to face. Seems silly to do them during flashbacks and such.

Chapter One

When one refers to Burning Hope is one referring to the fact that it is being consumed like a log in a fireplace or does it refer to that moment when ones emotions are so intense that one says they are burning?

 **Burning** ;

[ **bur** -ning]

Verb (used with object)

  1. … To be consumed partially or wholly…



Adjective;

  1. Intense; passionate.



Of course there is a third option that most do not think of. It could refer to that single beautiful moment that occurs right before one succumbs to oblivion. It is that moment when one shines the brightest burning everything up that they are in order to do whatever it is they need to do.

The question is… Which one does this story refer to?

…

The sky was dark as if it were nighttime yet there where no stars in the sky nor was there any moon. This was a place with gently slopping hills covered in grass so high a child could easily hide within it beneath that starless sky. Yet there was nothing else to this place, just the hills and the grass making it somewhere that one would easily get lost in whether one wanted to or not. What was most strange about this area was despite how dark the sky was, one could still see as if the grass or the very ground itself somehow produced light.

Then, in one of the flatter areas of the fields, there was a flash of light that once it had vanished a doorway had appeared in its place. Except for being in the middle of nowhere in such a strange place the doorway appeared to be entirely normal with a very normal wooden door. Almost as soon as it had appeared the door was thrown open and a blond in his mid teens came barreling through the door nearly falling flat on his face when the long grass attempted to trip him up. Before he fell he managed to balance himself out then stood up sort of straight as he slightly leaned forward a hand on his chest while he took deep breaths. In his other hand was clenched a dark purple skeleton key. A look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked around breathing heavily. This had not been where he had been aiming for when he had made the doorway appear.

Behind him, from the doorway, came the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. Confusion turned to panic as he turned to face the direction he had come from and ran at the door slamming it shut. Something impacted against the door causing it to bow slightly and the force knocked him backwards causing him fall onto his backside. He kept his blue eyes focused on the door his muscles tensed until it finally vanished and he fell onto his back with a relieved sigh.

“That could have gone better,” he mumbled to himself then winced as his bruised chest muscles spasmed angry at what he had forced them to go through. He had warn the brace the hospital had given him for his chest yet it could only do so much when he kept irritating them like this. It was not like he had much choice either. It was either be in more pain or die simple as that. Between the two he would rather deal with the pain.

With a groan he sat up slowly ignoring the protests of his muscles as he did so. There was a chain attached to the belt he wore and he took hold of it attaching the skeleton key to it then stuffed the key into his pocket as an extra measure. The last thing he needed right now was to lose the key after the owner had been kind enough to lend it to him. He really did not want to see what type of reaction she would have if she found out that he had lost it. “Now to find out where I am,” he said as he rolled onto his hands and knees. He knew full well with the way his chest felt it would be easier to stand this way then to try and push himself into a standing position while sitting.

However, before he could even move to where he was on his knees only a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Takeru Takaishi had been warned by Luna, the owner of the key, and her twin, Trace, about the cost of opening one of the doorways with the key. The problem was that the two had believed he, a normal human when compared to those two, would be able to open at least one without any problems. As his arms gave out on him he realized that their guess had been wrong or maybe his body already weakened by the bruised ribs just did not have enough energy to support a single doorway.

Either way, as he laid there trying to stay awake, he could only hope that the others part in the plan had gone off without a hitch even if there where complications on his part. His last thought before he fell asleep was that this place was most certainly not his apartment.

Their plan had been a simple one as it had been decided that the more complicated a plan the more likely it was to fail when it came to this particular foe. Trace, along with his younger brother Lee and their two Digimon Rascmon and Bearmon, had been sent to Primary Village ahead of time to make sure that Kitsumon, the demonic Digimon that he was, did not kidnap a Baby level Digimon to replace the one they would be “trading” Takeru for, Aiden’s Botamon. Since they had a few days before the trade was to take place Iori had gone there the day before with Digmon to create a small base where they could keep an eye on the trade to make sure Kitsumon did not pull a fast one. If something did indeed go wrong Iori was to contact Daisuke through their D-terminals and back-up would arrive to try and make things right.

Takeru’s part in the plan had been fairly easy. All he had to do was stand there and wait for Kitsumon to agree to the trade. Then once it was completed and Aiden had his Digimon he was supposed to use Luna’s key to open a doorway to his apartment where he was to wait until he heard from the others.

That part of the plan had failed, obviously, and as Takeru slowly woke up he could not help but be worried. For one thing he had no clue where he was. He had never seen the place he was now and as he rolled onto his back a glance at the sky told him he was not on Earth. Secondly, he was alone as he had been forced to leave Patamon with his brother to keep Kitsumon from thinking _they_ had set up a trap somehow. With a sigh he thought back over what had happened to try and figure out if something had occurred then…

Aiden and Takeru had arrived at the spot the trade was supposed to take place as specified by the letter without any trouble. The only reassurance Takeru had about this trade while he had stood there waiting for it to take place was Luna’s key which he could feel against his left ankle. He had hidden it in his boot afraid that any other place might be searched. Both the teens where nervous, but showed it in different ways. Aiden would play with the strings of the dark green hooded vest he wore that was meant to tighten down the hood while Takeru kept looking around them.

Aiden’s other Digimon, Punimon, had been left behind at the hotel under the watchful eye of the Luna and Trace’s uncle Kyte since there was nothing those two could really do to help. The two teenagers had arrived as soon as school had let out that day though Aiden had not actually been there that long before he had to leave. Takeru found out from Aiden later that he had been suspended from school due to the trouble his Digimon had caused there which was why unlike Takeru he wasn’t in his uniform.

The two would have to wait over an hour before Kitsumon would finally show up. As the letter had stated he had indeed come alone with the small Botamon in his hands. The poor baby Digimon was shaking pretty bad from what Takeru had been able to see but he was not hurt from what little Takeru had seen of him.

“You know if you’re going to schedule a time to show up it would be nice if you actually showed up on time!” Aiden had snapped his arms crossed over his chest.

Kitsumon had just shrugged. “I would have been if a certain Digimon hadn’t been so hard to catch. You think he would appreciate it more that I fed him and even gave him an entire room to run around in before this trade. Instead he ran around spitting bubbles at me,” he had said with a shake of his head. The information had caused Aiden to grin for a moment until Kitsumon had spoken again, “So I assume you have picked Takeru for the trade since he’s here? Though knowing him he likely volunteered himself since he seems to have come of his own will. Seriously I will never understand why you would so willingly put yourself in harms way for the sake of others.”

Takeru had clenched his fist then and had shouted, “What does it matter if I volunteered or not? You’re getting exactly what you wanted!” Kitsumon had simply ignored him.

“How are we going to do this?” Adien had asked at that point. He wanted to get this done as fast as possible. Takeru could not really blame him and a part of him wanted it over as well.

“Both of you will approach me and when Takeru is by my side I will simply hand over Botamon to you,” Kitsumon had answered Aiden. Both of them had starred in shock at Kitsumon with how simple the trade was going to be. Takeru had thought he would make them do something complicated to make sure it had not been a trap.

He remembered asking Kitsumon about it, “That’s it? We just walk over to you and you hand over Botamon to us nothing more?”

“That is it,” Kitsumon had responded. Takeru and Aiden had looked at each other. Takeru had thought there had to be some type of trap and maybe there had been since the doorway had failed. Still the two had begun to walk towards Kitsumon once Takeru had nodded his head. When they had reached Kitsumon Aiden stopped while Takeru continued until he had stood beside Kitsumon. It was then Kitsumon had handed over Botamon to Aiden. “Now… back off,” Kitsumon had ordered.

Aiden had held his Digimon tightly then had looked at Takeru before he had taken off in flat out run. Takeru had known then the red headed teen was trying to get out of there before Takeru used the key. It was because of this Takeru had not used the key right away. He waited until Aiden had almost reached the spot Iori was hidden with Digimon before he had taken the key out.

At the time, he remembered the warnings all three of the Star siblings had given him. Heck even Kyte had made sure he had known it by heart. He was not to think about one of their realms he was to go someplace he knew by heart. Which was why Takeru had chosen his apartment yet he had ended up here.

He laid on his back for a moment longer trying to think of what to do next. Luna and Trace had both agreed that if Takeru had to use the key more then once in a day he would pass out and remain asleep for the rest of the day. If he knew for certain that using the key would actually guarantee that he would get home he would just use it, but more then likely if he did use it he would only end up back here, wherever here was. There was, of course, the option of just waiting for his friends to come find him yet something told him if they could find him they already would have. He had no way of knowing just how long he had been asleep but he doubted it was a short nap. He just hoped it wasn’t to long otherwise his friends where probably panicking by now.

With a slight groan, as his chest muscles had seized while he was out, he rolled onto his hands and knees pushing himself onto just his knees. The world seemed to tilt for a moment and his head pulsed slightly so he stayed where he was until things had calmed down. Then carefully and slowly he stood up afraid if he did it to quickly he would end up on the ground again. He stood there for a moment head in his hands as it throbbed. When it had stopped again he took a look around him once more.

Something about this placed seemed to stir something within the back of his mind, but he could not quiet take a hold of whatever it was. “Now what?” he asked himself as he looked around his voice low. From just looking around he could tell that it really did not matter which direction he took. It was all the same from what he could tell. A part of him thought it might be best to just stay where he was, but for the most part he thought that walking would be better then nothing. He was about ready to close his eyes and pick a random direction when he heard the grass rustle behind him.

“Well this is certainly interesting,” he heard a male say and Takeru turned around to face them. There stood a man that was older then Yamato by a few years wearing clothing that Takeru had never seen before in subdued colors. It almost looked like a robe he had seen wizards wear in movies yet at the waist in the front the robe like thing split leaving the cloth pants and boots he wore exposed. His face was blank and his posture was relaxed which Takeru found strange since he was approaching a stranger. His black hair was in a crew cut while his brown eyes seemed alert. “How did you get here?” He asked as he took a few steps towards Takeru, but stopped when it was obvious the blond teen would bolt if he got to close to him. He might be calm about approaching a stranger, but with the way things had been going for Takeru he was not going to be so calm about it.

“Who are you?” Takeru countered. Depending on what his answer was told Takeru if he would need to run or not.

The man smiled slightly and answered, “I am Taylor keeper of the Key of Balance. Now.. Tell me how did you get here? No human should have been able to get here without a key. Especially someone such as yourself from the realm you live in.”

Takeru blinked wondering how he knew where he came from just by looking at him. The only thing that might even slightly give him away was the black gaukren uniform and even then he doubt that was the reason. He figured it must have something to do with the ability Taylor had whatever it was. “I borrowed someones Key,” Takeru answered not wanting to mention Luna by name in case it would cause her trouble later on. The older teen had done a lot for him and the last thing he wanted to do was get her in trouble. “Also, I wasn’t trying to come here I was kind of aiming for my own bedroom, but the door that appeared lead me here,” Takeru added as an afterthought as it was some information he could give without causing trouble for anyone.

Taylor nodded as he folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not surprised that it did. The Key’s are not meant to be used by those who are not connected to them. Anyone who used it who was not the owner or somehow related to the person would be sent here,” he told Takeru and the teen tensed up a bit. What he had just said had set off a red flag in his head big time. That was not how Luna and the others had explained the workings of their Key’s to him. Also if that had indeed been true Kitsumon would have ended up here a long time ago as Shaitanmon. That would have prevented all this from happening in the first place. “If you hand over the Key to me I’ll get you home and then I will return the Key to its owner,” Taylor said as he held his hand out to Takeru as if that would make him just hand it over. It actually kind of made him angry that he thought he would just do as he was told.

Takeru took a few steps back fighting the urge to put his hand over the pocket the Key was in. He was getting the feeling that he knew this place again but chose to ignore it at the moment as there where far more important things for him to focus on at the moment. “I’d rather give the Key back to its owner on my own, thanks,” he told Taylor who retracted his hand a small frown on his face. “If you really want to get me back home why don’t you just open a doorway for me back to my own realm” Takeru asked keeping a close eye on the man. He had already lied to Takeru once as far as Takeru was concerned and Takeru just did not trust him at all. Something just felt off about this entire situation.

The man shrugged then said, “That’s fine, but it would be best if you let me take you home. From what I can tell if I just drop you off some place random in your realm you would not be able to get in contact with your friends.” Takeru starred at him for a moment knowing he was partially right. He had left his cell phone and D-terminal back in his room to keep them safe. He didn’t even have his D-3 with him since he had handed it over to Iori in case something bad did happen during the trade so hopefully he would be able to get close enough to Takeru that Patamon would be able to evolve and help fight. However, he had no doubt that once he stepped foot in his own world that his own friends would be able to find him. Still that also meant it would give someone else the chance to find him so going directly home would be the better option between the two.

Before he could make a decision, he heard someone scream his name as loud as they could. He recognized the voice and it sent a jolt through his mind. It was then he knew where he was. This was the place he had meet and spoken to Aderes at. Takeru turned to see the girl as she flat out ran towards him Frimon’s tail wrapped around her neck tighter then normal to keep from falling off her shoulder.

“Aderes!” he heard Taylor yell and Takeru turned to look at him. No longer was the man calm nor was his face blank. He was very clearly angry and Takeru could not help but wonder how he knew who Aderes was.

Aderes ignored him as she ran up to Takeru and took hold of his hand not even slowing down. “ _Run!_ ” Aderes told him as she herself had not stopped and began to pull Takeru behind her. Takeru let himself be dragged along despite knowing he would not be able to run far. It was obvious to him that Aderes was frightened and if the girl thought it was best that they ran then he was not going to disagree with her.

“Aderes _stop!”_ Takeru heard Taylor shout as they ran past him but Aderes did not listen to him as she continued to run dragging Takeru behind her. Takeru glanced behind him in time to see Taylor attempt to grab his other arm. Not only would that cause Takeru severe pain he had no intention of letting the man stop him when Aderes obviously wanted to get away from him. He quickly pulled his arm out of reach then turned his focus to where they were running to. It was then the small group heard several strange noises behind them, but Takeru did not turn back afraid of what he would see.

The two had been running for awhile to where Takeru thought he would have to force Aderes to stop to catch his breath. By then the muscles in his chest had seized again making it very hard for him to breath. He was about to dig his feet in to stop her, as he could not spare breath to speak, when she stopped herself letting go of his hand. He nearly doubled over hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. In the mean time Aderes had turned around to face him. “Takeru, why are you here? Why did you come to this place outside of a dream?” she asked him.

Still unable to speak Takeru held up a finger to ask for a minute to catch his breath. The young girl noted that he looked pale and that his lips where partially blue due to lack of oxygen and decided it would be best to wait for her answer. Not very patiently though as Takeru could see her fidgeting where she stood just barely in his field of vision at the moment. Frimon was not any better, but then again the Baby Two Digimon very rarely stayed still from what he had seen of him.

Takeru lifted his head slightly to get a better look at Aderes noticing something different about her. The last time Takeru had seen the girl Aderes had looked to be around eight or nine years old. Now that she stood in front of him in the real world she could have easily been around eleven or even twelve years of age. Her white hair once long was now in a tight braid that ended at the base of her neck and she wore a lose fitting black t-shirt with jean overalls as well as black tennis shoes. As he looked at her Takeru could not help but wonder why her age kept changing on him the closer he approached her in the real world. Was this right now her real age or would she get older still? There would be no way for him to know for sure and he had a feeling if he asked she would not answer him.

When he finally caught his breath he straightened up slightly with a wince. “I didn’t mean to come here. I was trying to get to my own room,” he answered her deciding it would be best to worry about the change in her age later. There where more important things going on right now then her fast aging. “That man said I wound up here because I a mere human tried to use a Key. However, my friends told me as long as I had permission from the owner I would be able to use it without any problems.”

Aderes kept her focus on the direction they had came from when she spoke, “They where right he lied to you.” As for Frimon, the small Digimon kept an eye on their surroundings his eyes never staying in one spot for very long. “Why did you need to use a key any way?” Aderes asked him as she looked at him for a moment before turning her focus away from him again. The way the two where acting was making him nervous and he had to wonder just how much trouble the three of them where really in.

“To save myself. One of my friends Digimon was captured by Kitsumon and the only way he would give Botamon back to us would be if we traded him something too dangerous for him to have or if Patamon or I surrendered to him. The best plan to get Botamon back that any of us could think of was for me to surrender to him then use a Key to get away from him again,” Takeru answered her then asked. “Why did I end up here any way?”

“I don’t know! Taylor most have done something to the Keys,” Aderes answered him. Then she looked at him again and asked, “Can you run again?”

Takeru honestly was not sure if he could so instead he asked her. “Just what is going on Aderes? And where are we going?”

That look she got when she did not want to talk about something appeared on her face. She remained silent for awhile and Takeru thought she would not answer him when she spoke, “Taylor was the one who choked you in that one dream of yours. I don’t know what he was planning to do with you this time, but I knew that we had to get you away from him.” She looked away from him her hands gripping the sides of her overalls tight enough for her knuckles to turn white. “I can’t trust him not to hurt you anymore!” she said as she looked at Takeru again a look of fierce determination on her face. “So I am going to lead you to one of the bridges that connects this realm to one of the others! The bridge for the Nightmare Realm is the closest one from here and if we go there I don’t think Taylor will be able to do anything to you.” Takeru realized she had changed a bit since the last time he had saw her in the dream. At that point she had seemed content to help from the sidelines as she did not seem to know what else she could do. Now, however, it appeared she was going to do whatever she could to help.

“Now are you ready to run again?” she asked him again. While Takeru had caught his breath by then his chest throbbed from the pain he was in. Running was only going to cause him more pain yet he knew staying here would not be safe. He simply nodded his head and Aderes took off running again Takeru following after her. He still had more questions he wanted to ask her but decided they could wait until they where some place safer. Not that he thought the Nightmare Realm was safe. Still it had to be better then where they were right now.

Takeru found it was strange that no matter how far the two of them ran the scenery never seemed to change. It was just the same gently rolling hills with tall grass that made it very difficult to run. The hills were not helping much either making it difficult for Takeru to keep up with the uninjured Aderes. She really did not seem to mind when Takeru slowed down a bit doing her best to match pace with him. It was obvious that she did want him to keep going however and he was doing his best to do so. The problem was one can only ran so far and so fast when ones chest feels like its being clamped down by a vice.

Without warning Aderes stopped in her tracks throwing her arms wide in an attempt to stop Takeru from passing her. Forget passing her, however, he nearly ran into since he had not been keeping that much focus on her more worried about continuing forward then anything. At least he did manage to stop in time though. He was grateful that they had stopped once again nearly doubled over as he tried to breath. He knew it would be easier to do so if he straightened up with his arms up above his head, but with his bruised ribs he just was not sure if it was a good idea to do so.

Takeru lifted his head slightly to look at Aderes who was starring intently at something. Frimon’s fur was fluffed up slightly but since he was not actually growling Takeru was not to concerned at the moment. “Aderes… What’s wrong?” he asked her in between breaths. It was a little alarming that she went from running one second to standing so still that he could barely see that she was even breathing. He had to wonder just how she could even run for so long without breathing heavily. Even if he wasn’t injured he probably would still be breathing heavily and it wasn’t like he was out of shape either.

“That,” she pointed ahead of them causing Takeru to stand up straight to see what she was pointing at. “It wasn’t there before,” she answered him looking over her shoulder at him for a moment before returning her focus to the front of them. Takeru could not see what she was concerned about. The direction she was pointing to looked like every other part of this realm as far as he was concerned.

“What wasn’t there before?” he asked hoping that she would either clarify what she was talking about or give him a better direction so he would actually be able to spot whatever it was that had her on edge now.

“That Shimmering! Shimmering is only supposed to be around What has Been! There shouldn’t be any around here,” Aderes told him as she took a few steps back forcing Takeru to back up as well. At least her way of not making things understandable when asked to explain what she meant was the same. Just what did she mean by a shimmer any way?

It was at that point that Frimon began to growl deep in his throat the fur on his tail began to stand up with the rest of it despite the fact that it was still wrapped around Aderes’s throat. Takeru kept his attention in front of them trying to see just what had the two on alert when he soon spotted the Shimmering that Aderes must have been talking about. There a bit in front of them was like the illusionary affect one saw on very hot days that tricked the eye and the mind into thinking there was water in front of you. Since there was no sun here and it was not hot at all, in fact it was rather nice, mixed with the way Aderes was reacting to it a Shimmer must have been worse then what he could think of.

“Just how bad is a shimmer?” Takeru asked her as Aderes took a few more steps back forcing Takeru to do the same or have her trip over him. At this point he was doing his best to make sure he did not trip and fall back down the hill they where part of the way up.

“Shimmers here usually mean there are things connecting to this realm that are not quiet normal or something has been changed. In the first case you will never see them in other places as this realm is a bit unique in that aspect. In the second case, which this is the second case, you might see them in other place. I guess you can say that a Shimmer is a type of warning if you know to look for it,” Aderes answered as she took a few more steps back and it was then Takeru realized they where backing up because the Shimmering area was actually growing. Each time Aderes had stepped back it was to avoid the Shimmering from over taking them.

Takeru was about to turn and walk down the hill when he tripped and fell backwards. Momentarily stunned by the pain the fall caused he could not warn Aderes what happened causing her to trip over him and fall on top of him. Aderes tried to get up as fast as she could while Frimon moved to Aderes’s chest growling his tail fuzzed out as bit as it could go at this point.

Aderes did not manage to stand up in time as the shimmering over took them. Takeru groaned then looked around them unable to see anything different about the area they where in. “Did something happen?” he asked Aderes who turned around and shushed him. Takeru starred at her for a moment before she turned back to face in front of them. Frimon hoped off of her landing in front of the two of them so he was now in between them and where the Shimmer once was.

The two humans watched as fog slowly began to roll in and around them. By the time it had reached them Frimon was bearing his teeth growling at whatever was hidden in the fog.

“Takeru… We have to get out of here,” Aderes whispered as she stood up. The girl turned to face Takeru and helped him stand up as Takeru’s chest muscles no longer wanted to work with him. Once he was standing the two of them began to walk keeping the area that the shimmer had first appeared in front of them. As they walked Aderes kept herself in front of Takeru while Frimon, who hopped along with them, stayed in front of her despite not really being able to do anything at his level.

Takeru knew he shouldn’t be because it meant they where in danger but he was extremely grateful they where now moving at a slower pace. With the way his body was feeling he doubted that he would be able to run again if he even needed to. He was not at all surprised that Aderes seemed to know where she was going. The fact that she had even known which direction the bridge had been in the first place had shocked him. Why should he be surprised now that she still knew how to reach it? If it was not for their movement forcing the grass to lay down he probably wouldn’t have been able to point in the direction they had come from.

The three continued to slowly make their way carefully circling whatever had been contained within the Shimmer trying to make their way back to the path to the bridge. They had only been at it for what felt like a few minutes to Takeru before they began to hear laughter that seemed to echo all around them. The laughter sent a shiver down Takeru’s spine and it seemed eerily familiar to him, but he was too focused on not falling again to pay it much attention.

From the corner of his eye he saw a shadowy figure in the area in front of them that Aderes was trying so hard to keep them out off. Frimon jumped up into the air and shouted, “Bubbles!”, spewing his attack at the shadowy figure. The bubbles connected exploding on impact causing the figure to dissipate for the moment. The three continued onward as Frimon kept an eye out for the Shadowy Figure. When it appeared again he released another attack causing it to vanish once again.

Nothing was said between the three as Frimon watched out for the Shadowy Creature, Aderes kept her eye on whatever path she was trying to lead them to, and Takeru kept his eyes on their feet to make sure they did not fall. Just what was going on Takeru was not sure, but he had a feeling he was not the only one. “Bad, bad evil thing…” Takeru heard Frimon mutter at one point causing him to turn his focus on the small Digimon. He was doing his best to keep himself in between them and whatever it was that he kept attacking.

“Takeru we need to start backing up. The bridge should be behind us now,” Aderes whispered to him when she stopped. Takeru glanced behind him only able to see more of the rolling hills.

“How fare are we from it?” Takeru asked her keeping his voice low as he turned side ways and began walking in the direction she wanted them to go now. He kept his focus that way to keep from losing his way. “Aderes?” he questioned a little louder when he did not get a reply from her. However, when he still did not get a reply from her Takeru turned around only to find out she was gone. “ _Aderes!”_ Takeru shouted as he turned in a full circle to make sure he had not somehow gotten turned around in the few moments he had looked away from her. It did not matter, though, which direction he looked because he was once again by himself. For the most part anyway as he heard the laughing echo around him once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - This time around I am trying to break the conversations up a bit more, do better description and a few other things you guys may or may not notice. Let’s just hope I can keep up this quality all throughout this story. Also this and the next chapter are thanks to Guest who gave me a lot of great reviews on Endangered Hope as they are the ones that gave me the idea for them!


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> A/N- I am sorry for the very late post. The colder it got the more my hands began to hurt and I couldn’t type. I also got caught up in trying to get my life in order, such as going to the gym, seeing the doctor more things like that, and doing things I needed to do around the house. As promised before I will never drop a story no matter how long it takes me to complete.

**Chapter Two**

" _Takeru we need to start backing up. The bridge should be behind us now," Aderes whispered to him when she stopped. Takeru glanced behind him only able to see more of the rolling hills._

" _How fare are we from it?" Takeru asked her keeping his voice low as he turned side ways and began walking in the direction she wanted them to go now. He kept his focus that way to keep from losing his way. "Aderes?" he questioned a little louder when he did not get a reply from her. However, when he still did not get a reply from her Takeru turned around only to find out she was gone. "Aderes!" Takeru shouted as he turned in a full circle to make sure he had not somehow gotten turned around in the few moments he had looked away from her. It did not matter, though, which direction he looked because he was once again by himself. For the most part anyway as he heard the laughing echo around him once more._

As the laughing continued to echo around him Takeru glanced around hoping he had just somehow missed Aderes. "Aderes?" he called again but the only response he received was the laughter. From the corner of his eye he saw the shadowy figure form, but the moment he turned to face it the figure vanished into the darkness again.

That was something else he had noticed. The light, wherever it came from since he did not know, seemed to be slowly vanishing. It was slowly receding with him in the center of it. What was interesting was the fact that if he moved what light was left seemed to follow him to where he was always at the center of it. If it was not for the circumstance that he found himself he probably would have had a bit of fun with it. For the moment he really did not want to move to far from the spot he had last seen Aderes. It was also making an interesting sight with the fog seeing how only part of it was illuminated.

He winced as a painful spasm went across his chest which caused him to cough which in turned caused more spasms. By the time the vicious cycle had stopped there were tears in his eyes and he noticed that the laughing had stopped. Instead it had been replaced by whispers and not the friendly sort. This was the type that one could barely hear a few words out of a full sentence that sent shivers down ones spine. The type that was common in horror movies and games.

The few words he was able to pick up varied but the most repeated one was Hope. He wasn't sure if he happened to notice it more then other words because of his connection to Hope or if it was really one of the clearer spoken words. He thought he heard Patamon mentioned once, but he could not be certain. With a sigh he stuffed his hands into the pants pockets of his school uniform and closed his eyes. Like that he attempted to focus on what was being said in hopes that it would have some hint as to just what was going on at the moment.

"… Hope…"

"… Are… the…"

The whispers seemed to collide with each other into a jumble mess of words making it difficult for him to pick out what words belonged to which sentence. It did not help that all the whispers belonged to the same voice which obviously should not have even been possible.

"Does… with… Useless…"

Takeru closed his eyes tighter trying his hardest to make out just what was being said. As he stood there he felt a breeze on the back of his neck. "Child of _Hope,_ " something hissed in his ear in a sarcastic tone. Takeru's eyes snapped open and he spun around to face who had spoken but no one was there. The whisperers ceased for a moment and Takeru realized that the light had shrunken considerably. With him at the center of the lighted circle the light ended about three feet ahead of him.

Which meant outside of the circle he could see nothing as his eyes could not adjust to the darkness thanks to what little light was left. He heard something rustling in the grass somewhere in front of him causing him to take a step back the light moving with him.

"Are you really thee Child of Hope?" he heard the voice clearly say though it still spoke in a whisper. Takeru turned to his right which was the direction the voice had come from but there was nothing there that he could see.

"I have been called that," Takeru answered as he took a few more steps back as he looked around. The only ones that had really ever called him that though where the twins and those related to them. He had never even heard of such a title until they said such. By now he had already lost sight of where he had last seen Aderes which meant there was no longer any point in him staying still like he had originally planned.

Some type of movement caught his attention and he turned his focus to it. He watched as the shadowy figure from before appeared right at the very edge of the light which was how he could see him. The figured laughed then said, "Really? Yet I see cracks…"

Takeru blinked and tilted his head to the side not quiet understanding what the shadowy figure meant. He knew he should not put to much faith into what the creature said as Frimon had stated it was evil but like most humans he was curious. Besides as it where he probably could not get away from it. What he needed right now was information to figure out just what was going on. "Cracks?" he asked it and the figure laughed again.

"You do not see it yourself?" it asked causing Takeru to shrug.

"If I knew what you where talking about I wouldn't have asked," he admitted causing the creature to laugh again. It vanished from his view and Takeru glanced around trying to find it again.

"What else could I mean when I say cracks?" the shadowy figure asked him while Takeru continued to look around. Takeru paused for a moment and thought over the question as he looked at his feet

"It means something is broken," Takeru answered as he looked up at the same time the shadow figure appeared right in front of him.

"Exactly!" it shouted as it reached for him.

" _Takeru!_ _"_ someone shouted and Takeru felt something take hold of his hand and pull him back at the same time he felt something jump onto his shoulder then off again.

"Bubbles!" something shouted at the same time the light seem to explode momentarily blinding Takeru who closed his eyes as he stumbled nearly falling on whoever had pulled on his arm. A hand pushed firmly on the middle of his back kept him from falling. He heard the shadow figure cry out.

"Takeru?" he heard someone, Aderes now that he was paying full attention to the speaker, questioned. "Are you alright?"

Takeru opened his eyes slowly and looked behind him at Aderes who looked worried. "I'm fine, but what just happened?"

She let his arm go and he stood up straight as he felt her hand leave his back. "I dunno… One moment you where behind me the next moment you where gone," she answered him clearly confused as to how they had gotten separated. The fact she did not know what had happened when she seemed to see a lot more then others alarmed him slightly.

He shook his head slightly and faced her fully. "Are we still going in the correct direction for the bridge?" he asked her and she nodded. "How far are we?"

Aderes glanced past him and Takeru turned to look that direction as well. Frimon stood there which Takeru guessed it was him who had hit his shoulder. He also took note that the light had returned to normal levels. She then glanced at Takeru for a moment before turning her attention back to the first spot. "It will take us a bit to reach it at the pace we are going. Maybe an hour?" she tried her best to guess then shook her head. "The shimmering area is making it hard to judge just how far we are from it."

Takeru looked at her and asked, "And the shadowy thing?"

"I don't know what it is… Did it touch you?" Aderes asked as she looked at him and he shook his head. "Good! Whatever it is Frimon does not like it one bit," she said almost the same time Frimon released another attack causing the two to turn to him.

"Is he even damaging it?" Takeru asked and Aderes shook his head. "You may want to stop him then it could be trying to wear him down," Takeru cautioned her not sure if she knew Digimon only had so much energy they could attack with.

"Frimon don't keep attacking it unless it tried to touch one of us again," Aderes said as she walked past Takeru towards her Digimon. Takeru kept his eyes on her afraid that if he lost sight of her again they would be separated once more.

Frimon glanced back at her before turning his attention back to the front of him. "But, but it's evil! I must attack it!" he whined. "Just let me attack it… Please?" he pleaded as he glanced at Aderes for a moment. The small Digimons fur was still standing on end his frill spread out as far as it could go.

Aderes shook her head and said. "What good would it do if you run out of energy and leave us vulnerable when we really need you?" she asked him trying to reason with the small Digimon.

He glanced back at her as his fur relaxed slightly and he sighed. "Only if it tries to touch you," he stated and Aderes nodded though Frimon was already facing forward again. The shadowy figure tried to approach them again because Frimon began to growl his fur sticking right back up. Like he had been told the small Digimon did not attack.

Takeru heard the whispers again like he had the first time where he had been unable to understand what they where saying. It only caused Frimon's growl to grow deeper yet he continued to keep his promise. It must have moved closer to them because Frimon's tail went straight in the air as he hissed bearing its teeth in the direction the Shadowy Figure was at. It simply laughed before vanishing again.

"I think you are right Takeru… I think he was just trying to wear Frimon down," she told him a bit of worry in her voice. Since it was no longer blocking them Frimon began to proceed forward with the two humans following close behind him. "Do you think it could be Kitsumon?" she asked him as she glanced over her shoulder at him.

Takeru shook his head and she looked forward again. "If it was him Aderes he would have leapt at us the moment he realized Frimon was the only Digimon here. It has to be something else…" Takeru told her wondering just what it could be. Something about it seemed familiar but he could not point out just what it was at the moment. "Could it be Taylor?"

It was Aderes turn to shake her head. "He is not imaginative enough to pull something like this off," she told him honestly. "He is more the type to go straight at what he wants or to use something else to do it for him."

Takeru starred at her for a moment and asked a question he had been wondering about since he had first meet Taylor. "Is _he_ the owner of the Law Key?" Just because he had claimed to be the owner of the Balance Key did not make it true. Yet Aderes shook her head again.

"He is the holder of the Key of Balance," she answered him and sighed. "He is supposed to keep things in balance to help things run on course. What he should be doing now is trying to help you and your friends but he has chosen to aid Kitsumon instead of hindering him."

Takeru starred at her for a moment as he took in what she had just told him. He heard Frimon growl again, most likely the shadowy figure again, but soon the small Digimon stopped. "Then its been him helping Kitsumon this entire time not the holder of the Law Key?" he asked her. Had they been wrong this entire time? Aderes nodded her head and Takeru was now even more confused then he had been since the start of this entire thing. "How? Trace and Luna both said that some of the things that have been going on couldn't happen unless the holder of the Law Key was the one helping Kitsumon."

"They don't know everything," was all Aderes would say to him. Takeru would have asked more yet before he could Frimon instantly turned around and jumped at the two. He landed on Aderes shoulder and jumped again onto Takeru's shoulder.

"Bubbles!" he shouted practically in Takeru's ear causing the teen to flinch almost at the same time the small Digimon released his attack. The shadowy figure must have appeared right behind Takeru to cause the small Digimon to attack after he had promised not to. Takeru stood still for a moment as Frimon sat on his shoulder growling Aderes watching the two closely.

Soon Frimon relaxed slightly and turned to look at Takeru. He nuzzled up to his neck purring slightly as an apology since he had felt Takeru flinched then hopped off his shoulder onto Aderes then back onto the ground. Aderes and Takeru watched as the small Digimon surveyed their surroundings then continued forward the two following him again.

The three had hardly gone three steps when the Shadowy Figure appeared before them again almost right in front of Frimon. The small Digimon instantly launched himself while firing an attack at the same time at it since it was within reach of his two friends. This time Frimon's attack did nothing when it connected. It was then Takeru spotted an all to familiar, longer then normal, black arm. It reached towards Frimon with the intent of swatting the small Digimon.

Takeru dashed forward without thinking while Aderes shouted Frimon's name frozen in place. The teen ignored the pain from his chest since he knew full well that Frimon wouldn't stand a chance if he was hit. He caught a hold of the small Digimon's tail and pulled back shielding Frimon with his body then he braced himself right before he felt the hand hit him spending the two flying to the left.

His shoulder hit the ground first causing him to yell out in pain as he kept a hold of Frimon sliding slightly on the grass. " _Takeru!_ " Aderes screamed as she ran towards the two while the shadowy figure laughed. As Takeru held onto the struggling Frimon he was shocked by the fact he had not recognized the laugh sooner. It haunted his dreams often enough after all

Frimon hit a bad spot in his struggle and Takeru groaned causing the small Digimon to freeze eyes wide. "Takeru!" Aderes shouted as she approached them as Takeru carefully rolled onto his back.

"Frimon stop!" Takeru yelled as the small Digimon tried to break free of Takeru's loose hold. "You don't stand a chance against him!" Aderes dropped to the ground and carefully helped Takeru sit up the teen trying his hardest not to cry out in pain as tears formed in his eyes.

He was sitting up in time to see the shadowy figure take a few steps forward changing into none other then Devimon as Takeru had feared. Takeru felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight of the Digimon. "I see you do not have an angel with you to protect you this time…" Devimon stated a grin slowly spreading across his face as he tilted his head to the side. "Only a weak little Digimon whose attacks barely even tickle."

Frimon growled then shouted, "I'll show you whose weak!" He broke free of Takeru's hold which had relaxed at the appearance of Devimon. Takeru snapped out of his shock and tried to stop Frimon once again but the small Digimon was already out of his reach by the time he reacted.

"Frimon!" Aderes shouted as she stood up and ran after her Digimon. Takeru wanted to say something to stop her but knew it would do no good as nothing would have stopped him if he was in the same place. Still he struggled to stand up his abused body fighting against him. To his horror he watched as Devimon moved to attack not only Frimon, but Aderes as well with how close she was to her Digimon.

It was then that Takeru spotted a very familiar flash of light from Aderes back pocket just as another light engulfed Frimon. When it vanished the small Frimon had changed into a young lion like Digimon that had golden fur with a red tuft on top of his head. It was just a hint of a mane he might have later on in his evolutions. The newly evolved Digimon stood on all fours at this stage with three large claws for each one of his paws. Around his neck, like a collar, was his very own holy ring with an oval green shaped stone attached to it. As for his eyes they had changed from amber in color to blue.

"He's… A Holy Digimon," Takeru said in amazement as he starred at the Digimon that now stood between them and Devimon his focus on the Holy Ring. He could not help the smile that slowly spread on his face as that was the last thing he could imagine the small Digimon evolving into. The newly evolved Digimon growled deep within his throat as he switched to an attack position static electricity running along his fur as he glared at the Devil Digimon.

"A Child Digimon," Devimon scoffed as he got ready to attack. "Holy or not it is still no match for me! Death Claw!" The Devil Digimon's arms stretched out to attack the young lion Digimon who rushed towards Devimon essentially avoiding the attack by doing so.

"Critical Bite!" the Digimon shouted as he rushed towards Devimon. He leapt up at Devimon sinking his teeth into the devil Digimon. There he hung for a moment as Devimon stood a bit surprised, but when he realized nothing happened he swatted the Child Digimon off him. The lion Digimon caught himself before he hit the ground landing on his paws. He growled again as the static electricity continued to run along his body.

"Try as hard as you like you will not defeat me! Death Claw!" shouted Devimon as he attacked the lion Digimon again. This time he dashed to the side in order to avoid the attack but he was still scratched across his side as he ran towards Devimon's left side.

"Leo Claw!" the Digimon shouted as he tried to swipe at Devimon's left leg. Devimon leapt backwards and into the sky in order to avoid the attack.

"Death hand!" Devimon shouted firing an energy attack at the Digimon. The Child level Digimon rushed to the side to avoid the attack and Takeru shield his face from the dirt as the attack was close to him. Carefully he stood up and made his way over to Aderes who stared wide eyed as she watched the fight.

"No fair flying!" the child Digimon shouted as he tried to jump up and take a swipe at Devimon, but he could not reach him no matter how hard he tried. Devimon simply laughed as he watched him. Takeru kept an eye on the small Digimon as he tried his hardest to reach Devimon while he dodged the attacks Devimon would send his way. To Takeru it seemed the lion Digimon had no plans of giving up any time soon.

It had taken everything Angemon had to defeat Devimon when they had encountered him when Takeru was young and here was a Child level Digimon fighting as if he had a chance of winning! Takeru couldn't help but stare in amazement at the Digimon. He certainly had a lot of faith in himself that was for sure!

Except from where Takeru stood it was obvious that Devimon did indeed have the advantage of not only level but the ability to fly. If things continued like this it was going to end either the same way it had for Angemon or much worse. Takeru glanced at Aderes and saw much like himself when he had been in the same spot she stood frozen in place watching as the two Digimon fought. He turned his attention back to the fight and gritted his teeth. There had to be something he could do to prevent the worse from happening.

" _Takeru are you a Digimon?"_ he heard Tokamon's voice echo through his head as he thought back to the conversation they had. _"A super hero? Do you have some type of special power that I don't know of?"_ Takeru clenched his fists knowing just what Tokamon had been trying to point out to him then. Yet he did not want to stand here and do nothing!

"Are you just going to watch as I defeat him just like you did back then?" Devimon mocked him as he attacked the lion Digimon with an attack that sent the Child Digimon flying. Takeru glared up at Devimon as Aderes moved as if woken from a spell to ran towards her Digimon. The teen turned his focus on her then and followed after her at a slower pace. Right now he was trying to think of some type of plan, anything that he could do to turn the tides of this battle in their favor. He thought of Luna's Key but was afraid it would not work correctly because of what had happened the first time he had used it.

" _Then why do you think you can protect someone from a Digimon like Kitsumon when I and the others can barely fight him off most of the time?"_ Takeru shook his head not wanting to think about this conversation right now. It was not going to help him at all!

"Frimon!" Aderes shouted as she reached her Digimon. Takeru stopped about half way as he turned to look at Devimon. Just what was it that Takeru could do to help?

" _That is why we are here Takeru! To protect you and your friends!"_

"It's Leormon!" he shouted as he stood up before Aderes could even touch him.

Devimon chuckled as he watched Leormon make a show of just how intimidating he could be. The lion Digimon roared as the static electricity ran all over his body. The little show might have worked on a lower level Digimon, but not Devimon. "All these years have passed and yet you are no different then you where then!" Devimon told Takeru and he momentarily flashed back to when he was seven and remembered the horror he had felt while he had watched as Angemon sacrificed himself to defeat Devimon causing him to freeze. As for Leormon, he once again rushed at Devimon with the intent to attack, but without the ability to fly there wasn't much he could do.

" _Then why the hell do you even need me?" Takeru snapped._

Takeru watched frozen for a moment as Leormon was sent flying again by another one of Devimon's attacks causing Aderes to cry out his name in alarm. He stood there starring as Leormon struggled to stand again…

_What_ _'s the point?_

"You can do it Leormon!" Aderes shouted as loud as she could causing Takeru to jump and look at her. The look of fear she had a moment ago was replaced by that of determination. "Stand up Leormon! You can beat him!" Aderes was not going to give up and it was obvious she was not going to allow her Digimon to either. Leormon just grinned as he stood up.

" _Cause I can't do it without you, Takeru! Other Digimon may be able to evolve on their own, but my purpose was and has always been to fight by your side as your friend! Without you Takeru, I would be powerless and the Digital World would be an evil place no one would want to live in!"_

Takeru clinched his fists again as he watched the two as he thought back on the argument he had with Tokamon. It wasn't his job to fight that was the role their Digimon played and was one of the many reasons they where with them. All they, the humans, had to do was support them and the Digimon would take care of the rest. Takeru shook himself free of his thoughts and jogged to Leormon's side grimacing slightly as he did so. He sort of had an idea now and while it wasn't exactly what Tokamon had meant at the time it was the best shot they had now.

"Leormon that first attacked you used why didn't it do anything?" Takeru asked the Digimon. He had an idea as to what it was but he needed Leormon to confirm this for him. Leormon glanced at Takeru for a moment keeping his full attention on Devimon.

"It's an attack that aims for the enemies weak point. It rarely hits, but when it does I could even bring someone like him down," Leormon told Takeru his voice full of pride as he glared at Devimon. Takeru was right, Leormon really had no intention of losing this battle.

"If I can get you up to him will you be able to use it again?" Takeru asked him.

Now he had Leormon's full attention. "If you can make it to where I can reach him I'll use it as many times as you want!" Leormon told him as he grinned. Then his grin vanished as he looked at Takeru his expression serious. "I cannot guarantee that it will work though."

It was Takeru's turn to grin this time and he pat the young lion Digimon on the head ignoring the shock he got from the static electricity. "The impossible seems to happen around me a lot in situations like these. Just believe that it'll work and I'll do the same," Takeru told him. Leormon starred at him for a moment his tail swishing from side to side. To him something seemed a bit different about Takeru then when Aderes had first pulled him away from Taylor. He wasn't sure what it was, but Leormon was willing to take a chance if he was so the Digimon nodded his head.

"What shall I do?" Leormon asked him as he got ready to fight again. Takeru was about to tell him when both of them had to move to avoid an attack from Devimon. Leormon roared at Devimon at that point and kept his full attention on the Devil Digimon. "Takeru! Tell me what I have to do!" he shouted as Takeru kept his eyes on Devimon as well. Obviously he wasn't going to let them plan this out easily. Despite what he said it appeared he was not taking any chances this time.

Takeru pulled out the blank card Luna had given him from his boot. Unlike her other cards which usually could only be used for one thing but multiple times depending on what it was this card could be used for anything, but only one time. As long as it was within her power that was, which Takeru had no idea what that meant, but he just hoped his plan was indeed within her power.

He was about to tell Leormon what he needed to do when Devimon attacked again forcing Leormon to move further away from Takeru. It was then the teen realized that Devimon was not going to allow them to meet back up. He had noticed that Takeru had a plan and he wasn't going to let them use it. Takeru was going to have to try something else. In his left hand he held onto the card while he reached into his pocket with his right.

"Leormon when I shout your name run at me!" he shouted at the Child Digimon. Leormon looked at him for a moment tilting his head to the side before he had to dodge another attack from Devimon.

"But he'll attack both of us then!" Leormon pointed out. He could dodge all day if he had to but Leormon had noticed how much Takeru's movement had slowed down since Aderes had first made him run today. Takeru had only just got out of the way of the last attack that had been sent at him. Leormon highly doubted he would be able to do it again.

"Just trust me!" Takeru shouted at him and Leormon glanced at him for a moment. Aderes had put her absolute trust in Takeru for fixing what was wrong. If his best friend could trust him then he could as well.

"Alright! I'll trust you Takeru," Leormon stated as he rushed towards Devimon to continue the battle and wait for the moment Takeru called for him. Besides it was not like Takeru had ever done anything to Leormon to make him not trust him. If he thought he could deal with it then as far as Leormon was concerned he could deal with it! There was nothing else he had to think on. Takeru would get him where he needed to be Leormon believed that! He also would believe that his next critical attack would hit like Takeru told him to.

As for Takeru, he kept an eye on Devimon and Leormon as his grip tightened on the key. It might not be able to get them out of this realm like he would have liked but Takeru certainly did not see why it would not work if he kept the door to this realm. He just hoped he would stay awake long enough to actually use the card. He had promised Taichi he wouldn't do anything stupid, but it looked like he was going to break that promise. Maybe if he was lucky since he planned to open the door close by he wouldn't suffer to badly from the affects of opening one.

Takeru took a deep breath then concentrated on a door way appearing behind Devimon. He was afraid that if he allowed it to appear in front of him Leormon's attack would be stopped before it could really happen. It was not really that hard to imagine it happening either. He had plenty of nightmares about the devil Digimon to memorize what he looked like by then.

Then Takeru felt the tell tale sign that the door way was appearing by his body temperature dropping as his energy was being absorbed. "Leormon!"

As he had promised, the young lion Digimon instantly changed direction and began to run right at Takeru so when the door did appear next to the teen Leormon saw it. He grinned knowing full well how those doors worked. Before Leormon ran into it Takeru opened the door just as he heard Devimon shout, "Devil's Claw!" except Leormon was through the door before the attack hit. There was a flash of light from Luna's card and while the second door appeared right behind Devimon's back and opened Devimon's attack connected with a copy of Omegamon's Brave Shield Omega that had appeared from the card. Takeru's legs collapsed on him as he starred up at the shield wide eyed and very happy that was at least within Luna's abilities at the moment!

Takeru continued to stare as Devimon's attack broke on the shield at the same time he heard Leormon shout, "Critical Bite!", as he crashed into Devimon's back. This time the Digimon had aimed for Devimon's neck. Devimon cried out in surprise and Takeru realized at that point that Devimon had not known just what it was that the door was supposed to do. If he had there would have been no way Devimon would have fallen for such a trick since he was smarter then that. The Brave Shield Omega vanished in time for Takeru to see Leormon's attack connect and when it did there was a small flash of red light for a moment. Devimon let out a shrill cry then to Takeru's extreme happiness, began to turn into 01's and 00's. Leormon let go at that point and even tough he was a bit of a ways up he landed gracefully on his four paws and let out a triumphant roar.

"How is this possible?" Devimon yelled as he looked at his own hands as they became Digital Data. Takeru just couldn't keep the grin off his face not only was he glad to see Devimon defeated yet again, but also because Leormon's attack had actually worked!

"You overestimated yourself and underestimated your opponent… Again…" Takeru told him his voice expressionless. Maybe Devimon was not as smart as Takeru thought he was since he had managed to make the same mistake twice. "And you where wrong about me as well! I am not the same as I was then! I have learned about Hope and what it means to believe in your friends!"

At this Devimon laughed causing the grin Takeru had on his face to disappear. It was replaced with a look of confusion. Here he was dying yet he was the one laughing. Just what did he have to laugh about? "You have only learned the basics child!" Devimon shouted at him as he reached towards Takeru. Takeru stayed where he was knowing in this state there was nothing Devimon could do to him anymore. Besides he wasn't sure if he could move. He was also worried about what Devimon meant.

Then he realized something and began to laugh himself. "You wanna know the best part about all of this?" Takeru asked Devimon a sort of grim smile on his face. It wasn't an expression that really fit him, but anything connecting to Devimon or even darkness seemed to bring the worse out of him at times. "You are being erased outside of the Digital World! You can _never_ come back again! I will never have to fear that one day you may somehow come back and really take Patamon away from me this time!" Takeru shouted at Devimon as he laughed again. No longer would the devil Digimon haunt his nightmares. He was finally free from him!

Yet despite this Devimon let out one last laugh that caused Takeru to stare at the Digimon. If the Digimon had anything else to say Takeru would never hear it as the laugh was the last thing the Digimon was able to do as the degeneration of his data was to bad for him to say anything. Takeru watched until the very last of him had vanished as did Leormon.

"Leormon!" Aderes shouted as she ran to her Digimon almost tackling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I knew you could do it!"

Takeru looked at the two partners and watched as she began to check on the injuries Leormon had gained during the battle. The entire time she worked Leormon had a look of contentment on his face now that Devimon was gone. When she was finished she looked at Takeru for a moment. The way she looked at him reminded of how she had looked at him the first time they had met. The one that made him feel like some sort of puzzle she had to solve. Then she smiled at him before she tightly hugged her Digimon again causing Leormon to let out an undignified squeak. Takeru smiled as he continued to watch the two of them glad their battle with Devimon had turned out better then his own had.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

_Then he realized something and began to laugh himself. "You wanna know the best part about all of this?" Takeru asked Devimon a sort of grim smile on his face. It wasn't an expression that really fit him, but anything connecting to Devimon or even darkness seemed to bring the worse out of him at times. "You are being erased outside of the Digital World! You can never come back again! I will never have to fear that one day you may somehow come back and really take Patamon away from me this time!" Takeru shouted at Devimon as he laughed again. No longer would the devil Digimon haunt his nightmares. He was finally free from him!_

_Yet despite this Devimon let out one last laugh that caused Takeru to stare at the Digimon. If the Digimon had anything else to say Takeru would never hear it as the laugh was the last thing the Digimon was able to do as the degeneration of his data was to bad for him to say anything. Takeru watched until the very last of him had vanished as did Leormon._

_"Leormon!" Aderes shouted as she ran to her Digimon almost tackling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I knew you could do it!"_

_Takeru looked at the two partners and watched as she began to check on the injuries Leormon had gained during the battle. The entire time she worked Leormon had a look of contentment on his face now that Devimon was gone. When she was finished she looked at Takeru for a moment. The way she looked at him reminded of how she had looked at him the first time they had met. The one that made him feel like some sort of puzzle she had to solve. Then she smiled at him before she tightly hugged her Digimon again causing Leormon to let out an undignified squeak. Takeru smiled as he continued to watch the two of them glad their battle with Devimon had turned out better then his own had._

Takeru sat where he was for a bit longer to be sure that he was not going to pass out again. It felt like he had not slept for a few days and he knew if he sat any longer he would nod off. Slowly he stood up his legs shaking badly but when he was steady he went to join Aderes and Leormon. By then Aderes had released her vice like grip on her poor Digimon.

The two watched Takeru closely as he walked over and he figured it must have been pretty obvious just how unsteady he was. Then he stumbled, catching himself before he fell, causing Aderes to gasp and Leormon to run over to him to help steady him. Takeru stood there for a moment hands on the back of the Digimon before he took a deep breath and pushed off him walking the rest of the way to Aderes. The entire time Leormon was right beside him in case he was needed.

"Can we please go now before something else shows up?" Takeru asked her a hand on Leormon's back to keep himself steady while he stood there.

Aderes smiled slightly and nodded her head. "Its that way," she told him pointing in what must have been the direction they had been going. Takeru followed after her while Leormon walked beside him just to be safe. The Digimon was awful protective of those he considered his and since Patamon wasn't here right now as far as he was concerned Takeru was his for the moment.

They where about half way there, by Takeru's best guess, when a sudden gust of wind caused Aderes and Leormon to freeze in their tracks. Takeru stopped as he looked at the two. "Whoa!" he shouted in surprise when the static electricity on Leormon's body suddenly went up in intensity causing him to back away from the Digimon to keep from being zapped. Aderes ignored it as she turned her focus to the direction they had come from.

Takeru watched her for a moment and noticed she was nibbling on her bottom lip. "Aderes?" he said causing her to look at him. "What's wrong?" He had a good guess as to what might be worrying her since until this moment there hadn't been a single gust of wind. Which was strange on its own, but he'd worry about that later.

She didn't answer him instead asking him a question of her own, "Takeru can you run again?" Her face looked a bit pale from worry and he would have liked to tell her yes, but he shook his head no.

The muscles in his chest where tight and it was making it difficult for him to breath just standing there. He also was still a bit unsteady on his feet which was why Leormon was still beside him. He was not as bad as he was when they had started out again. In fact, Leormon had to stop him falling three times earlier, but he knew he was in no shape to run now. He already knew he was going to be in a lot of pain tomorrow with everything that had happened.

Aderes bit her lip then turned her attention behind them. Then she looked at Takeru again. "Why do you have to be so tall?" she questioned causing Takeru to stare at her and blink. Well that question seemed a bit out of the blue.

"Sorry?" He was not quiet sure what type of response she wanted to that one.

She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "If you where shorter you would be harder to spot amongst the grass," Aderes explained to him and Takeru just pointed to the trail they where leaving behind them. Aderes just shook her head.

"Does it really matter Aderes? If you are worried about who I think you are, which would be Kitsumon by the way, none of us could out run him," Takeru stated which was very true since none of the Digimon could match his speed. Did she really think the three of them could out run him?

Aderes glanced to the front of them and thought for a moment before she turned her focus back to Takeru. "Then we will just have to count on the fact that he will not be able to find us easily," Aderes told him as she started walking again. Takeru glanced at Leormon who simply shrugged and began to follow his partner. Takeru sighed and trailed along beside the Digimon.

"Aderes would you mind telling me what you mean about that?" he asked her as they walked.

"What I mean is Taylor doesn't know the exact location of the bridges so he won't know for sure which direction we went in. Kitsumon is only this close because of what happened with Devimon," Aderes answered him keeping her attention on where they were going.

"What about the trail we are leaving?" Takeru asked pointing out the obvious fact to her once again. A part of him just wanted to hurry up and return to his own realm where he would not feel so useless!

Aderes turned around and began to walk backwards. "The grass stands back up after awhile. Its been long enough that most of the trail we left walking away from Devimon's trap will be gone now," she told him then she turned back around again.

"Its nice how that works in our favor but I would really like one of these Key realms to actually make sense," Takeru said and Aderes laughed.

"You mean to follow the rules of your world? For all you know Takeru grass that stands up on its own after awhile and even produces light could be quiet normal on my world," Aderes said and Takeru could tell by the way she was speaking she was actually smiling.

"Does it?" he asked now curious. He knew nothing about the world her and the Star siblings came from. Well close to nothing actually. He knew that their world had schools sort of like theirs and that it was not as heavily focused on science like his was but that was about it.

"I've seen grass there produce its own light, but not any stand up on its own after awhile," Aderes answered him truthfully and Takeru just shook his head. A part of him kind of wanted to see what their world was like while another wanted him to stay as far away from it as possible. "Is it possible for you to walk faster?" she asked him as she looked back over her shoulder.

"I can at least try to," Takeru told her as he picked up the pace Leormon and Aderes matching it. It was harder to breath this way yet it was better then being caught by Kitsumon. He never wanted to go through that again!

After awhile they topped one of the hills and Aderes grinned. "We're almost there Takeru!"she encouraged as she looked back at the older teen. Takeru picked up the pace with the hope that once they where in the Nightmare Realm the others would be able to find them. From this distance he could spot the bridge, the silvery shimmering thing that it was. He could also spot the dead trees that where a common sight within the Nightmare Realm.

They had nearly reached the bridge when Leormon let out a vicious growl and Takeru heard, "Blade of the Winds!" The three ducked down to avoid the attack as it had been aimed a bit high. When they straightened up Takeru realized then the attack had been overshot on purpose since it landed just short of the bridge. It had been a warning.

"You will not get away this time," Kitsumon growled as he stalked towards them. Takeru felt Aderes tug on his arm towards the direction of the bridge and the two began to move as fast as they could which was a sort of jog thanks to Takeru. As for Leormon, the Digimon stood his ground growling at the fox Digimon. The static electricity was leaping off his body with his irritation. "Like you could even slow me down," Kitsumon sneered as he swung his sword aiming at Leormon.

"Excalibur!" Takeru heard as they jogged causing him to grin. He looked up in time to see the golden angel Digimon fly over him as he went straight for Kitsumon sword extended. This forced Kitsumon to give up his attack on Leormon in order to block Seraphimon. Then he was even forced to retreat slightly as Ofanimon showed up to back up Seraphimon.

"Takeru!" he heard and he looked towards the Nightmare Realm to see Hikari with some of the others standing near the bridge on their side. When she saw that he was looking she jumped up and waved at him.

"They don't know the bridge is there! They can't see it," Aderes explained to him as they continued their way to the bridge. "It'll show itself to them once we start crossing!" Except it was not the two of them that crossed it first it was Leormon. The young lion Digimon knew he was outmatched when it came to Kitsumon so he did the only thing he could do; run across the bridge to show it to the others.

As Aderes had told him as soon as Leormon had stepped on the bridge the others saw it because soon Kusarimon, Nekitsomon and Digmon rushed across it to reach the side they where on. Ofanimon and Seraphimon where soon joined by Metal Garurumon who flew across the gap much as they had done. Soon Aderes and Takeru where on the bridge making their way across. Yamato and Trace where running to meet up with them at the same time.

They had almost reached the other side when an attack from Kitsumon flew at the bridge colliding with it. Aderes shrieked and retreated a few steps towards Takeru while Yamato and Trace also backed up a few steps in the direction they had come from as the attack had landed right between the two groups.

Cracks began to form on the bridge causing it to shift slightly almost knocking all four off their feet. Afraid it would collapse since it was mainly their side that was cracking, Takeru and Aderes rushed forward while Yamato and Trace stayed where they were. Before they reached the two older teens the bridge fell out from beneath Aderes and Takeru's feet causing the younger to scream.

Trace and Yamato both rushed forward to try and help. Trace grabbed a hold of Takeru's arm while in turn Takeru was able to get a hold of Aderes. The weight of the two dragged Trace too his knees as he grabbed onto Takeru with his other arm. Yamato quickly grabbed hold of Trace's belt with his good arm to prevent the other teen from being dragged down. Takeru grimaced as their movement came to a halt. Yeah he was diffidently going to be in a lot of pain tomorrow.

"Hikari we need help now!" Yamato shouted over his shoulder. They must have already been on their way because Takeru soon spotted both Luna and Hikari looking over the edge of the bridge to see how they could help.

"Iori help Yamato keep my brother from being pulled down as well," Luna said as she looked back over her shoulder.

"Hold on you two we'll help," Hikari told Takeru and Aderes as she laid down and tried to get a hold of Takeru as well.

"Kohana come help me I'm gonna make a rope for the girl to grab hold of!" Luna said as she pulled out one of her cards. Kohana ran up to her to help as she asked.

"Get off me!" Kitsumon shouted as he tried to break free of the Digimon that where currently attacking him. Takeru looked at him in time to see him swing his sword in their direction and shout, "Blades of the Winds!" Luna and Hikari both changed tactics as they took hold of Trace's arms and began to pull trying to get the two up. As for Kohana she went to help Yamato and Iori.

"Trace!" Kusarimon shouted as he ran his fastest trying to get ahead of the attack. The Digimon jumped across the gap in between the group and the attack Trace's eyes going wide

"Kusarimon!" Trace shouted as he froze momentarily. He then winced when his bracelet glowed brightly causing Hikari, Luna, Takeru and Aderes to wince as well. Kusarimon was engulfed in light at the same time as the attack hit him. Everyone on the bridge, or dangling from it, turned their attention towards the Digimon when they heard someone shout, "Twin Swords!" A double energy attack flew at Kitsumon and Takeru was able to spot something falling from the clouds caused by the explosion. Kitsumon easily blocked the two attacks.

"Seraphimon help him!" Takeru shouted more worried about the Digimon then his current position. Seraphimon broke free of the battle with the help of Ofanimon and dove through the gap his golden wings being the only thing that made it to where anyone could follow his path.

"Takeru I'll take her," he heard and turned to see Sou'Zakamon flying near him. Kohana being on the bridge had caused him to evolve to try and save her. Takeru gave the Digimon a weak grin as Sou'Zakamon wrapped his arms around Aderes's waist. Takeru then let her go. While Sou'Zakamon flew to the Nightmare Realm Trace and the others where able to pull Takeru up.

"Okay I did my exercise for the day!" Trace said with a slight groan.

Takeru glanced at him. He wanted to just collapse on the bridge but Yamato was making him walk off it. "You can say that after you do what I been through," Takeru told him his face a bit pale at this point.

Trace took one look at him and shook his head. "No thank you! I think I would rather just save your butt again. You look like something my sisters Digimon drug back home," Trace told him and it was Takeru's turn to groan.

"That kind of sums it up nicely. Thanks by the way," Takeru said and Trace nodded. By then they had reached the Nightmare Realm and it was only thing Takeru was allowed to collapse on the ground much to his relief.

"Don't fall asleep on us," Yamato warned him when he saw Takeru fight back a yawn.

"I'm in to much pain to sleep," he told him with a grimace. He was almost to the point of tears at the moment with how sore he was.  
Soon the golden light from Seraphimon's wings became visible again and the group turned to look at him. Like most people had figured Kusarimon had evolved. The dog Digimon was no longer on on all fours and that was made quiet obvious by the grip he had around Seraphimon's wrist and Seraphimon's his. Takeru was not really surprised since moving from four legged to two legged stance seemed to be normal for certain types of Digimon and Kusarimon certainly fell into that group. He was wearing black pants with bandages wrapped around the bottom of the pant legs, down his ankle then around the arch of his two feet. The rest of his appearance was pretty much the same with his white flame fur, the shackle and chain around his neck. There where also two swords strapped to his waist their belts criss-crossing in the front and back.

"Thank you Seraphimon," the newly evolved Digimon said as the angelic Digimon set him down on the side the battle was currently taking place on.

Seraphimon nodded. "One more stage and you may be able to fly yourself," Seraphimon stated before he went to join the fight.

"Oi! What's your name now?" Trace shouted at his Digimon stopping him from following after Seraphimon.

"Lex Kusarimon," he answered before he rushed off. Sou'Zakamon was about to join the battle as well when Kohana stopped him.

"Please, stay here? Just in case he sends another attack our way," Kohana asked him

"Alright," Sou'Zakamon said as he landed again then moved to where he was in front of the Chosen knowing it was a good idea. Now that things where relatively calm Luna walked over to Takeru who was now laying on his back.

"Takeru what happened? Why did you end up here?" she asked him. Takeru unhooked her key from his belt and gave it back to her chain and all. After that he just laid there concentrating on his breathing. His chest muscles where sort of working against him at the moment.

"It was a trap," Aderes answered for him since she realized it was probably difficult for him to talk at the moment. Luna turned her attention to her. "They must have realized you guys would try to do something like this so the owner of the Balance Key changed something to where if a human used it they would automatically end up in that realm." She pointed over to the realm they had just came from.

"Taylor? Taylor is the one helping Kitsumon…" Luna said shock very evident in her voice.

"That bastard! I am going to punch him when I see him!" Trace growled and glanced at the bridge wishing it hadn't broken so he could go and find him. "Why the hell would he help Kitsumon?"

"I don't know I just know that he did," Aderes answered as she sat down Leormon laying behind her. "I tried to get him to stop but no matter what I said he wouldn't listen to me. It was like he couldn't even hear me at times…" Takeru could tell that made her uneasy. Not that she couldn't stop him, but the fact that he seemed not to be able to hear her at times. Takeru wondered if it was because he had simply chose to ignore what she had to say or if it was something else. He really hoped it was because he ignored her he really didn't want this to get more complicated then what it was already.

"Well we'll just have to find him and get his reasons out of him ourselves," Luna said as she glanced at Trace who had a mischievous grin on his face. He really liked the sound of that! She then turned her attention to the other realm. "What realm is that? I've never seen it before…"

"The Law Realm," Aderes answered her and the twins looked at her again. "Just what else could it be if you two never seen it before?" She said it in such a way that was almost an insult to their intelligence, but the twins didn't take it that way. They where on guard though.

"Then why where you there?" Trace asked her and Takeru sat up with a grimace.

"Don't worry Trace she doesn't have the Law Key," Takeru told him causing Trace to look at him. "Also, without her help I would be in Devimon's hands by now or worse Kitsumon's." He never thought he would say something like that but he did.

"Devimon's?" Yamato questioned as he turned to look at his younger brother. Takeru could see he was worried. "You saw Devimon?"

"Yep and I beat him," Leromon said and it wasn't like he was bragging about it. More like he was just stating a fact though it was obvious he was proud that he had done it. Takeru couldn't blame him and wouldn't have blamed him if he had bragged about it. As far as Takeru was concern the lion Digimon had earned full bragging rights for what he had done.

"How? You're not an Adult level Digimon," Hikari wondered. Anyone else probably would have shown some form of disbelief by Leormon's claims but Hikari was genuinely curious as to how he had managed to do it.

Takeru reached out and gently tugged on Leormon's holy ring causing Leormon to lift his head up so they could see it. "Well he happens to be a Holy Digimon luckily and secondly he had an attack called Critical Bite. It happens to attack an enemies weak point and if successful it can take down an Adult Digimon. Though he did warn me that it had a low chance of working," Takeru answered for Leormon who grinned. He was basking in the attention he was getting at the moment and Takeru could not help but think how typical it was for a cat. "I managed to create a chance for him to use it without Devimon being able to stop him. When he was in the middle of attacking the two of us I used Luna's card to make Omegamon's Brave Shield Omega appear while Leormon went through a doorway I made with Luna's key. Apparently they hadn't warned him about what the Key's could do…" That Takeru found strange. If you where going to bring in someone to help you normally you would warn them of all the possible dangers to ensure their victory. Why had they kept the details of the Keys a secret?

"Brave Shield Omega?" Yamato asked wondering if he heard right.

At the same time Luna asked, "You used my key, twice?" While Yamato's voice was calm Luna's was a bit shrill. Obviously she wasn't very happy to hear that he had. She had told him not to after all.

Takeru looked at his brother and nodded then turned to look at Luna. "It was the only plan I could come up with. I'm just glad that it worked," he told her then laid back down onto his back. Laying down was easier then sitting up right now. It hurt less.

"And yet you're still awake," Luna stated as she stared at him.

"Barely," Takeru admitted and tapped his chest lightly the brace giving it a louder sound then normal. How he wished he could take it off, but it would probably only make things worse. "Thanks to the pain I'm in I am having no problems staying awake. Plus I don't think it drained as much energy as the first one… That one had me pass out."

Luna watched him for a moment then sighed. "No it wouldn't have drained as much since it was the same area, but I did warn you what could happen. Why take such a risk?" she asked him. Takeru looked at Leormon whose injuries were clearly visible despite what treatment he had gotten. Luna followed his line of sight to look at Leormon as well.

"I did it for him because if I hadn't he would have fought until he could no longer do so. I wanted to do whatever I could to help him…" he answered and Leormon bowed his head to Takeru who in turn smiled. "Would you have been able to stand there and watch as he continued to get hurt if you knew there was something you could do?"

Luna smiled a little and shook her head before she looked at Takeru. "No, Takeru, I wouldn't have been able to ignore him," she told him then muttered, "Obviously I couldn't." She was here after all wasn't she? "I'm surprised you didn't try to escape with them."

"I was afraid that if I tried to make a doorway to escape it would just open up to Law Realm any way," he told her. It would have been a wasted effort on his part if it had. "The best solution was to create the chance for Leormon instead of trying to run when it most likely wouldn't work."

Luna starred at him for a moment before looking away. If it had been her she would have tried to escape first instead of betting on a critical hit. To her an attack that had such a low chance of working seemed less likely then a doorway leading to the same area they where already in. Yet Takeru had chosen to put his faith in the Digimon and it had obviously paid off for him. She wasn't sure what amazed her more. The fact that it had actually worked or the fact that he had done it. "Child of Hope indeed…" she muttered though Trace was close enough to hear her which caused him to just shrug.

"I gave up trying to apply normal rules to them a long time ago Lu," he told her as he patted her on the shoulder. She just swatted his hand away causing him to grin.

Takeru turned his attention to the fight that was happening in the Law Realm. Seraphimon and the others at the moment seemed to be mainly focusing on pushing Kitsumon away from the gap between the two realms. They where trying to put as much distance as they could between the fox Digimon and the group in the Nightmare Realm. This way they could prevent any attacks that went that way and could even fight all out without having to worry about their friends.

Takeru only half paid attention when Trace began to speak keeping his focus on the battle. "Okay you said that was the Law Realm. Do you happen to know who has the key currently?" he asked Aderes who turned to look at him. Takeru had a feeling he already knew the answer to that one so he wasn't to worried about Aderes response.

From what Takeru could tell Lex Kusarimon was solely focused on preventing any attacks from coming this way. It was because of this that Sou'Zakamon kept his eyes focused on him because if he missed even one it would be his job to stop it then. Since the two where not strong enough to actually stand up to Kitsumon it was the only thing they could really do.

As for Digmon, he was taking advantage of Kitsumon being grounded to set up various traps with the help of Nekitsomon to try and create openings for Seraphimon, Ofanimon, and Metal Garurumon. As he watched he began to wonder where the others where. It was kind of strange to find so few of his friends here with what was going on. Especially since Lee was missing. How had they known to look for him here if Lee wasn't with them?

"No one does," Aderes answered him causing everyone, but Takeru to look at the girl. She had just confirmed what he had concluded. The most likely suspect to have it for him had been her, but she had shown him that she did not have it. Even if she had lied about not having it she probably would have used it by now to save them when Devimon was attacking. When she had denied the fact that Taylor had it and he himself was going against what he was supposed to do the only thing left was that there was no holder of the Law Key. Otherwise they probably would have stepped in to do something at some point whether it was to help them or side with Taylor. Someone like that would not just sit back and do nothing. Also if she had known who had the Key she probably would have told him by now with how much he had asked her about it.

While the others digested what she had said Takeru propped himself onto his elbows to watch the battle better. "That's not possible! For a key to not have an owner -" Luna began as she thought about everything she had ever been taught about the Key's and their unique properties.

"An imbalance would occur! Shit! That's how that bastard is able to do so much right now!" Trace said as he clenched his fists. This explained so much! "A huge imbalance has been created increasing just what he himself is capable of and while he should be using the increase to fix the problems he's been doing this sort of crap!" Trace shouted as he waved in the general direction of the Law Realm. "Forget punching him, I am going to beat that bastard to a pulp!"

"The problem is from Taylor's point of view he may think he is fixing things," Aderes told Trace who turned to stare at her like she had just said the stupidest thing in the world. "Just because it seems to us that he is just creating a bigger imbalance doesn't mean a part of him thinks that in the long run the outcome will not make things balance out again."

"Just how would killing my brother help him balance things out again?" Yamato asked her, almost snapping it even, beating several people in asking the same question.

"I think Taylor is trying to create an imbalance in your world," she began and when Yamato tried to speak she hurried on, "I'm not saying he is doing it the right way! I think he should just fix the problem now, but think about it. First there was the boy Aiden's world. I don't know if Taylor had a hand in what happened there or not, but he might have gotten the idea for this from what happened there because things went way out of balance on that world. That was until the Digital World corrected what had gone wrong on its own. Now he wants to do the same thing on your world except I think he is aiming for a much grander scale then what happened on Aiden's!" It was then Takeru realized another change about her. Normally she acted her age and tried to act like she was a normal girl around him. Now, however, she was acting older and no longer hiding just what she was. To him it seemed she had finally decided to step up instead of working in the background like she had before.

"That still doesn't answer Yamato's question," Hikari pointed out to her and Aderes nodded.

"Yet is the start of one. Tell me how did Gabumon evolve into Metal Garurumon?" she asked as she looked at Yamato. "Or how did V-mon and the other Digimon gain their ability to evolve into their Adult form? Or even better what made it possible for Agumon to evolve in War Greymon once again after he had lost the ability? Same for Metal Garurumon? Or how about why is it that Seraphimon is capable of evolving to Ultimate on his own without the aid of anything?" Aderes asked them. Takeru carefully thought over her questions.

"If you are trying to say without Takeru our Digimon couldn't evolve I think you are forgetting that most of those evolutions where granted to us by Qing Longmon," Yamato stated. "It was because of him that V-mon and the others could evolve and him again for Agumon then later on Gabumon."

"Then tell me why did it take the help of Angemon and Angewomon for Gabumon to evolve to Metal Garurumon and Agumon into War Greymon? Weren't those arrows of theirs provided by Takeru and Hikari's crests?" Aderes asked as she stood up hands on her hips. Takeru was reminded of a teacher trying to teach something that the students just weren't getting the lesson. "Qing Longmon did not help you then thanks to the Dark Masers having sealed him away! Did you also happen to forget they were only released once you returned your crests to the Digital World? That Qing Longmon was released because of Hikari and Takeru's crests? The same Qing Longmon as you say gave everyone the ability to evolve again once it had been lost?"

This conversation made Takeru think of one he had before with Aderes. _"Hey Takeru? Do you know what the difference is between Light and Hope?"_ He remembered how he had given her an almost dictionary definition of the two. How she had found it funny then reworded the question, _"… Do you know why Hope is stronger then Light?"_

"That still doesn't mean that if we where to somehow lose Takeru, and I don't want that to ever happen," Sou'Zakamon said as he glanced at said teen, "That we would lose our ability to evolve. I mean I can evolve to this form and it was not from any aid of Qing Longmon's or Takeru's but because of the bracelet Luna made for Kohana." He had somehow been able to keep up with the conversation despite how closely he was watching Lex Kusarimon. Apparently he could multitask in his higher forms a lot easier then when he was Tsumon.

"Those bracelets where designed after Aiden's correct?" Aderes asked Luna who in turn nodded. "Do you happen to know where his came from?" she asked them in a tone that stated she had somehow cornered them.

"No I just know they seemed to work for him so why not us?" Luna answered truthfully as she thought on it. It might have been a bit risky on her part to do something like that without knowing the workings behind it now that she thought on it. Aiden hadn't said anything against it though now that he seemed to be on their side. "Do you?"

"I do, but it would be best to hear it from Aiden himself. What I will tell you is that he was the only one on his entire world to end up with them. Anyway I will admit that you will never know for certain if without Takeru you can no longer evolve unless it happens and I pray that it never does. However, if you did happen to find yourselves unable to evolve because Kitsumon managed to win what would happen if he released that virus of his?" she asked and when no one answered her she continued. "A lot of Digimon where sidetracked from their rampaging on Aiden's world because his Chosen Children chose to fight with everything they had and they where able to evolve at the time. If there would be no Digimon capable of stopping the rampaging Digimon around the world even more damage would occur before the Digital World would be able to fix the imbalance," Aderes told them. "Even though we are only talking about if's to Taylor, I don't think he really cares about it only being a if. I think he believes that if he creates the biggest imbalance he can sooner or later the Law Key will come into play again to either stop him or fix what damage he had caused then stop him."

"Just why is he so obsessed with the Law Key?" Iori asked her wondering just what was so special about a key he shouldn't even be able to use. It would be useless to him.

"Its not the Law Key so much as the owner," Aderes told him as she hugged Leormon. "He wants the person who had and should currently have the key to come back."

"Alright then who was it or is?" Luna asked her.

"It is supposed to be my mother…" Aderes answered her. Luna glanced at her brother for a moment and Takeru wondered what the two where thinking about. Trace snatched Luna's cell phone from her and walked away from the group as he flipped it open.

Takeru turned his attention to Aderes at that point and asked, "Where is she then Aderes?"

Aderes shrugged but then she looked at Takeru. "When you guys beat Kitsumon I thin she might come back," she told him and Takeru smiled slightly.

"You sure do have a lot of confidence in us," Takeru pointed out and Aderes starred at him.

"Don't you?" Aderes asked him and she had that look about her again like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. It made Takeru stare at her for a moment before he nodded causing her to smile. "Then you will do it! One way or another you guys will beat him." She continued to look at him and Takeru ended up looking away. There it was again that look that made him feel like he was some type of puzzle that she needed to figure out.

_"One is an emotion. It is something one can actually feel and was there long before humans dare put a word to it. You should know that better then anyone. The other is a concept. An idea actually born from the hope humans had that the world was not just a dark place full of despair for them. That there was good in it and that Light could beat Darkness… Thus without Hope there would be no Light! Hence Hope is stronger then Light. So… Don't worry so much alright?"_


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I makeup and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

_Takeru turned his attention to Aderes at that point and asked,_ _“Where is she then Aderes?”_

_Aderes shrugged but then she looked at Takeru._ _“When you guys beat Kitsumon I thin she might come back,” she told him and Takeru smiled slightly._

_“You sure do have a lot of confidence in us,” Takeru pointed out and Aderes starred at him._

_“Don’t you?” Aderes asked him and she had that look about her again like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. It made Takeru stare at her for a moment before he nodded causing her to smile. “Then you will do it! One way or another you guys will beat him.” She continued to look at him and Takeru ended up looking away. There it was again that look that made him feel like he was some type of puzzle that she needed to figure out._

_“One is an emotion. It is something one can actually feel and was there long before humans dare put a word to it. You should know that better than anyone. The other is a concept. An idea actually born from the hope humans had that the world was not just a dark place full of despair for them. That there was good in it and that Light could beat Darkness… Thus without Hope, there would be no Light! Hence Hope is stronger than Light. So… Don’t worry so much alright?”_

****

As the battle continued Seraphimon began to notice that something odd was occurring. Once Takeru had reached the relative safety that the Nightmare Realm offered him Kitsumon had almost stopped all of his attempts to break free of the battle. Even when he did attempt to do so it was only to send an attack that was weak enough for Lex  Kusarimon to block or redirect it. A glance back at the dog Digimon proved that he was not even worn down. It made Seraphimon wonder just why was Kitsumon holding back.

Kitsumon’s attention was not even focused on Seraphimon contrary to how he had behaved in previous battles. If Seraphimon was not Kitsumons’ current target then his focus should have been on Takeru yet it wasn’t…

Despite his worries Seraphimon continued to fight with his full power since more than anything Seraphimon wanted to end this once and for all. Still, he could not help as tried to figure out the reason why Kitsumon might be behaving this way. The only thing that came to mind was that Kitsumon was most likely stalling for a chance to use the Nightmare Key. Whether he had it himself or if he had handed it off to someone else Seraphimon had no way of knowing. “Be careful he is planning something,” he told Ofanimon at one point when the battle brought the two close enough to one another that he could speak to her without Kitsumon overhearing him.

Ofanimon nodded in agreement then said, “He is being a bit too obvious about it as well…” Seraphimon was in agreement with her on that.

“Knowing him he probably does not care that we know,” he said before he flew at Kitsumon to attack him. Ofanimon followed him closely since the two angelic Digimon were some of the best when it came to cooperative attacks.

“Somethings off Kitsumon isn’t moving as fast as he normally does,” Hikari commented as she watched the Digimon fight. Normally when the Digimon fought with Kitsumon Hikari would have problems following along with the battle because of how fast some of them could move. This time she was having no such problems.

“I noticed. Maybe with so few Ultimate level Digimon fighting he’s having an easier time of it?” Yamato suggested as he sat down by his brother. When they had come to the Nightmare Realm they had decided to leave some of their group behind in case they had been stumbling into a trap. Lee was right now off to fetch the ones who hadn’t come since there hadn’t been one. Except what Yamato knew of Lee should have been back by now since he had been sent off as soon as the Law Realm had appeared to them. It had Yamato worried a bit. He glanced over at Trace who was talking on Luna’s cell phone having called Iori over to him not that long ago.

“With both Seraphimon and Ofanimon after him? It seems kind of strange that he would be able to take it easy with the two of them. I mean they have enough power on their own to equal around Omegamon’s!” Takeru pointed out. There was no way a Digimon would be able to take it easy with the two of them on its tail. 

“Could he have some sort of plan?” Kohana asked as she looked at her friends. Honestly, if he did it would be strange for him to be acting the way he was. It was sort of like smiling in a poker game…

“Maybe that’s it. I am kind of wondering why he hasn’t started throwing his usual fit. He almost had Takeru with that trap but he managed to get away again,” Yamato said as he glanced at his brother and Takeru nodded in agreement. Then Yamato thought of something and asked Aderes as he looked at her, “Will it be safe for you to return to the law Realm once this battle is over?” After all, even though Taylor seemed to be her friend she had just helped his enemies. Yamato would not be surprised if that made the Law Key holder upset.

“Taylor won’t hurt me, but I dunno about Kitsumon. He was pretty upset after the last time I helped Takeru,” she told him truthfully. By then Leormon had stood up and was pacing back and forth by what was left of the bridge. It was obvious he wanted to help fight, but there was nothing he could do at his current level

“You can stay with me until things get better,” Luna suggested as she looked at the girl. “With my two sisters missing there is an extra bed in my room and you are more than welcome to it if you want,” Luna offered her. “Any chance that you happen to know what might have happened to them?”

Yamato was about to say something when Aderes spoke first, “No I looked for them after Takeru asked me about them, but I didn’t see them in the Law Realm anywhere. If Taylor or Kitsumon somehow has them then they are in a place I don’t know about. Also, I think it would be fun to stay with you so thank you.” Yamato glanced at Takeru for a moment who just shrugged. It seemed his friends and brother really didn’t remember anything about Lexi and Krista. Takeru wondered if they realized they were missing memories or not. Since none of them had said anything Takeru figured that they had simply not noticed the missing memories. Which made Takeru wonder if something had been put in their place.

Takeru looked at Aderes and asked, “Is there a chance you can do something about their memories? Nobody but the Star Siblings and I can remember Krista and Lexi. It makes it a bit difficult to try and find them if more than half the people that could be searching for them can’t even remember them.”

Aderes looked at Yamato and thought over what Takeru had asked her. “Maybe later? I might be able to help the owner of the Key of Memories overpower whoever hid the memories away, but I don’t think I can do anything else,” Aderes told him and Takeru nodded. It was better than just leaving things the way they currently stood.

“Alright I’m lost,” Yamato admitted with a slight shrug. “I have a feeling though by what you are saying that I will understand later.”

“If things go well you should,” Luna told him and Yamato nodded. He wanted to ask more about whatever was going on but decided to let it rest for now.

“Speaking of Lee, where is he anyway?” Takeru asked now that he had been brought up. Yamato was about to answer him when everyone’s attention was snapped back to the battle when they heard a cry. They had turned to look to see if any of the Digimon had been hurt only to find that Kitsumon had vanished. All the Digimon that could fly were quickly headed over to the Nightmare Realm.

“He must have used my Key!” Trace snapped as Yamato and several others quickly stood up. Leormon came bounding back to them and Sou’Zakamon took up a fighting stance in preparation of him reappearing. He kept scanning their surrounding's while Leormon moved into Sou’Zaamon’s blind spot to help keep an eye out. Takeru could see the static electricity was running all over his body as Yamato was helping Takeru to stand up.

“Blades of the Winds!” they heard from behind them and Sou’Zakamon rushed forward to intercept the attack before it could hit his friends. He managed to catch it on his gauntlets but was still pushed back considerably. “Still trying to take on more than you can handle I see,” Kitsumon commented as he came closer to the group his sword drawn.

“I would rather do that then run like a coward and abandon my friends!” Sou’Zakamon shouted as he rushed at Kitsumon to attack him to gain time until the other Digimon managed to reach this realm.

“That is just how we are!” Sou’Zakamon and Kitsumon both heard shouted from behind Kitsumon then, “Dramon Killer,” as War Greymon dove at Kitsumon intending to hit Kitsumon with his gauntlets only for the fox Digimon to jump to the side.

“See! You’re not the only one who can set up traps!” Lee shouted from where he stood near the tree line only to be pulled back by Taichi as an attack came their way even though Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode was already moving to intercept it.

“Lee stay down!” Trace shouted at his brother now that he was off the cell phone as Iori and him moved back over to the others.

“So that was where he was,” Takeru commented as Yamato finally got him to stand up and they began to move away from the battle as Sou’Zakamon, War Greymon, and Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode tried to keep him away from them and the others.

They managed to keep him in place long enough for Seraphimon and Ofanimon to cross the gap with Lex Kusarimon who they dropped off near Takeru and the others before joining the fight. As for Metal Garurumon he flew straight over to War Greymon and a flash of light later Omegamon joined the battle. At that point, Sou’Zakamon moved to where he was in front of Taichi and the others to guard them while Lex Kusarimon would do the same for Takeru’s group. That way the Ultimate Digimon could focus their attention on Kitsumon. However, due to the bridge being out Nekitsomon and Digmon were left on the other side unable to try and help.

“Yamato did you know they were going to do that?” Takeru asked his brother as he watched the battle.

Yamato shook his head and said, “No Taichi must have thought of it when Lee went to go pick them up. We didn’t all want to rush here in case it was a trap, but we figured out pretty quickly it wasn’t so Luna sent her brother to go pick them up.” Takeru nodded glad that his friends had taken precautions before rushing to his aid. He would be devastated if anything happened to any of them.

Aderes tugged on Luna’s shirt causing the teenage girl to look at the younger. “Luna do you think you can help me repair the bridge?” Aderes asked when she spotted the Digimon stuck in the Law Realm. Luna looked at the bridge a doubtful look on her face. The bridge was pretty big and she was still recovering from the card she had given to Takeru. She had put a lot of power in it just to be sure it would work for him.

“I can try but I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it,” Luna told her honestly as the two of them began to walk over to it. Takeru watched them go before he turned his attention to the battle in time to see Seraphimon, Ofanimon, and Omegamon do a combination attack that ended with Imperial Dramon firing his proton cannon at Kitsumon. He couldn’t dodge all the attacks this time and was forced to either take the damage or counter them. When it came to Imperial Dramon’s attack all he could do was take them head on.

It was then that Kitsumon decided that there was no point in holding back anymore as he began to pick up speed on the Digimon. At this point, Luna and Aderes had managed to repair the bridge so the other Digimon came rushing across it. Lex Kusarimon and Sou’Zakamon both ran to join the battle as the others moved into defensive positions. Bearmon came out of the woods at that point evolving to Gryzmon to help protect that side while Nekitsomon and Digmon stayed near their partners.

At this stage Lex Kusarimon still had his speed and while it wasn't enough for him to get in his own attacks he was able to block some from hitting the other Digimon which in effect created openings for them. Openings Omegamon and the others were more then happy to take advantage of. Sou’Zakamon took cues from Lex Kusarimon and instead of trying to fight himself began to help block attacks as well. This meant the four Ultimates could attack without worrying too much about retaliation from Kitsumon.

“If this really was a game I would say they were doing this wrong…” Trace commented as he watched the battle. He was trying to lighten the mood somewhat with a joke, but the others basically ignored him. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “At least Lex Kusarimon is able to be of some use now. I was afraid we were never going to be able to really help out when it came to battle…”

“Maybe if we’re lucky Sou’Zakamon and Lex Kusarimon will evolve one more time soon and make the battle even easier on everyone,” Kohana said as she glanced at him not really wanting to take her eyes of the fighting since Sou’Zakamon was involved in this one.

“Sou’Zakamon could but I’m not sure if Lex Kusarimon will. Then again if your life is in enough danger at some point like it was earlier on the bridge he might just do it,” Takeru told them and he glanced at Trace. “Feel like facing another life-threatening situation?”

“Not if I can help it,” Trace said a small grin on his face. “If it happens it happens, but I am not going to go running into one just to get him to evolve it might even backfire on me if I tried.” Takeru nodded in agreement after all Takeru had seen what could happen if one tried to make a Digimon evolve just for want of power. It was something that was best not repeated.

“There has to be some way though that the Digimon can get around his speed. The one who has come the closest so far is Lex Kusarimon that can still evolve, but he really doesn’t have the power to back it up,” Yamato stated as Omegamon tackled into Kitsumon. It seemed the Knight Digimon was thinking along the same lines as Yamato and was trying to slow Kitsumon down so his friends could actually get a good hit in on Kitsumon. Seraphimon and Ofanimon moved quickly to try and take advantage of Omegamon’s struggle.

Takeru thought over the previous battles the Digimon had fought with not only Kitsumon but Shaitanmon as well since their speed was the same. “Maybe if we had both Black Metal Garurumon and Metal Garurumon tracking him it would be easier? Plus Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode can somewhat follow his movements with his eyes,” Takeru suggested as he glanced at his brother.

“Yeah! Get’em Ofanimon!” Hikari cheered causing Takeru to snap his attention back to the battle. Seraphimon had managed to chase Kitsumon towards Ofanimon without him knowing what was going on causing the female angelic Digimon to land a good hit on Kitsumon. In turn, Kitsumon had swung around to hit her with his own attack causing Seraphimon to attack. Sadly, Seraphimon’s attack missed. Still, they were doing better than they had been.

“That is if he manages to survive the battle,” Takeru said as he grinned. Things where going better then they had previously. It helped that they now had Lex Kusarimon and Sou’Zakamon to help defend.

Yamato looked at his brother for a moment then back to the battle. “If we’re lucky they’ll beat him here and we won’t have to face him again.”

“That would be nice… I am tired of having to watch him play this game of his at the expensive of my friends,” Iori told them as they watched as Kitsumon retreated away from the group. They began to fear that he was going to flee like he normally did once the battle seemingly turned against him as it was beginning to now. Instead, the fox Digimon rushed at Omegamon intent on taking him down. Lex Kusarimon ran at the same time inserting himself between the two to block the attack with his own two swords.

“How much longer can you keep blocking his attacks like this?” Omegamon asked before he countered attacked firing both his cannons around Lex Kusarimon.

“As long as you need me too,” Lex Kusarimon answered as he attacked Kitsumon himself. Kitsumon pulled away from the two of them to avoid at least Lex Kusarimon’s attack.

Kitsumon growled then shouted, “Block all the attacks you want you are not going to defeat me!” With that he flew off to attack Seraphimon and Ofanimon at the same time who Sou’Zakamon was trying to protect since the two were currently flying and Lex Kusarimon obviously could not. The dog Digimon could jump pretty high but nowhere near as high as Nekitsomon could. Due to this Omegamon and Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode tried to stay low so he could help, but sometimes Kitsumon would force them to go higher and at those times Sou’Zakamon would try to defend all four Digimon if he could. It made Lex Kusarimon wish that he could fly now at this stage instead of taking the chance that he could later on.

Imperial Dramon flew towards Kitsumon’s back to attack him while he was busy with the angelic Digimon. It was because of this that for the first time Kitsumon was forced to unsheathe his shorter sword in order to block Imperial Darmon’s attack which actually caused the Dragon Digimon to grin. “Not so tough now are you?” he taunted as Seraphimon and Ofanimon moved around Sou’Zakamon to attack Kitsumon from the front.

Before either of their attacks could connect, Kitsumon dropped down landing on the ground as he looked at the group of Digimon as he returned his wakizashi to its sheath.

As of right now the two parties were at a stalemate. Kitsumon just did not seem bothered all that much by their attacks even when they managed to hit though the Chosen had an advantage in numbers yet they could not match his speed. There were a few times that one of the Chosen’s Digimon would think of something to do to try and slow him down, but Kitsumon would never allow it to last long. Since he knew that his speed was the only advantage he had over them whenever they pulled a new stunt he would learn from it and improve himself to avoid such a problematic situation again.

Since they could not match him in speed what they really needed was to get a good hit much like how Leormon had with Devimon. Both Omegamon and Omegamon Zwart had such a move as did Seraphimon, but Omegamon never had a chance to use it and Seraphimon required him to sacrifice himself to use it. What they needed to do was to create one chance for themselves and a good one that Kitsumon could not run from then they would be able to take him down. The problem was how could the Digimon create such a chance for Omegamon?

Takeru figured the best opportunity would present itself if Aiden decided to help them fight Kitsumon. After all with two more Ultimate Level Digimon that had a form of equal power to Omegamon being able to help them they would have an even greater number and power then Kitsumon who now seemed to be on his own. Still, Takeru would prefer that they beat him now once and for all instead of having to wait until a later point in time when all of them could fight and were together.

“Anyone happen to have any plans they have been keeping back?” Takeru asked as he leaned a bit against his brother his chest hurting him. Yamato didn’t make any comments though he did glance at his brother. If they did not need him here for Seraphimon he would have had Luna take him home by now, but he had a feeling even if Seraphimon wasn’t fighting he wouldn’t be able to get him to head home.

For Takeru, he was kind of glad of the pain because it was keeping him awake for the moment. Falling asleep in the middle of a battle was the last thing he wanted to do. It would only make him more of a liability and put his friends in danger if they had to wake him or move him.

“Not yet, but I am thinking on one and if I know Taichi he is as well,” Yamato answered as he turned his focus back to the battle. “Does anyone know if we’ve seen his top speed yet?”

Trace crossed his arms over his chest as he thought. “I think we have. I mean that whole disappearing and reappearing act of his. I think that is his top speed. He is just moving so fast that our eyes can’t keep up with him,” Trace answered as he thought over the previous battles he had seen. Either that, and he frowned as he thought this, or Kitsumon could use the Key far faster then Trace ever could which he highly doubted that to be the case. He had never heard of someone being able to open a doorway that fast before.

“Yet Metal Garurumon was able to follow him in the past when he was Shaitanmon using his radar While Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode and Dragon Mode could almost follow him with his eyes. Whether or not they can now hasn’t really been tested much this time sine they haven’t really been able to focus on just him. Metal Garurumon hasn’t really had much chance to fight him with him using his speed and he is almost always fighting as Omegamon now,” Yamato said as he looked up at said Digimon.

The one time Metal Garurumon had he had been backing up Seraphimon which had ended with Yamato’s broken arm. Besides Kitsumon had stayed in relatively normal speeds. Since Seraphimon could not see in the dark and his golden wings made him a target Metal Garurumon had been too busy blocking and counter attacking to really worry Kitsumon.

“Then maybe Metal Garurumon and Black Metal Garurumon will be able to track him and help the other Digimon figure out when and were to attack him. With the two of them doing it at the same time it would be less likely for him to somehow end up in one of their blind spots… If they have one,” Takeru said to his brother who nodded. Takeru honestly wasn’t sure if Metal Garurumon and Black Metal Garurumon had any blind spots with their radars. Maybe right below or above them was one? They would have to ask the two of them.

“But will Aiden want to help us? I mean now that he has the virus data secured and both of his Digimon again does he have any reason to fight?” Luna asked as she looked at the two brothers who in turn looked at her. “Do you think he wants to put his two Digimon at risk again fighting a battle he no longer has any real involvement in?”

There was silence for a moment as everyone thought over what she had said. “I think he will,” Hikari spoke up causing those in the group to look at her. “Aiden is still afraid that Kitsumon has some of the virus stored away somewhere even if he does believe it’s not enough to do any real harm if we act quickly… Plus he is involved in this battle now whether he will admit to it or not. He probably also wants to pay Kitsumon back for what he has done.”

“It would be best to ask him if he wants to take part in the battle instead of just assuming he will. If we are lucky like Takeru said the battle will end here and we will not have to worry about it at all,” Iori told them and the others nodded in agreement.  Takeru hoped he would help them because his two Digimon where strong. The proof in that was how much damage the two managed to do to Kitsumon on their own and they were needed if they didn’t beat Kitsumon during this battle.

_Cracks_ _…_

“He’s beginning to pick up speed again,” Yamato stated noting Kitsumon was now getting more attacks past Lex Kusarimon and Sou’Zakamon who were beginning to have problems keeping up with him now. It was also creating fewer openings for the other Digimon to land an attack since the pattern was beginning to become they would be hit by an attack before they themselves could attack which meant Kitsumon had moved on to attack someone else by the time they could or they would be forced to counterattack to block his attack. It meant the battle was now becoming one sided and it favored Kitsumon.

As Takeru watched he felt Aderes grab onto his arm and he turned to look at her. Her face was pale and she appeared to be scared. “What’s wrong?” Takeru asked as she hid her face in his side. He was beginning to feel like a big brother the way she behaved around him at times.

“Taylor is coming,” She said as she pulled away from him for a moment so her words weren’t muffled before moving back to where she was.

“How do you know he is?” Luna asked and Aderes simply pointed to the bridge. Sure enough, Takeru could see him walking across the bridge almost as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Trace and Luna both rushed over to the bridge Nekitsomon following after them closely. Takeru wanted to go with them but he wasn’t sure if it would be smart to do so. Instead, he stayed where he was with Aderes, who by now was hidden behind him as she held onto the back of his shirt, and his brother.

“What do you want?” Trace asked Taylor when he had reached the middle of the bridge. Luna and Trace were standing right where the Nightmare Realm became the bridge with Nekitsomon right behind them in a stance that said she was relaxed. In reality, she could very easily pounce on Taylor if she needed to.

Taylor held up his hands as if to show he held no weapons in them which was strange considering his key could be hidden in his pockets or elsewhere on his person easily enough. It was basically an empty gesture that did nothing to soothe the twins or those watching. “Calm down Trace, I don’t mean you or your family any harm,” Taylor told him his voice calm and his face expressionless.

“Yeah? Then why did you tell that fox bastard about my Key?” Trace asked him pointing over his shoulder towards the battle. That had diffidently caused his family harm.

“Who says I did?” Taylor countered.

Trace snorted. “He had to learn about it from someone and you are the only one we know of that has the ability to reach him that isn’t within our own family,” Luna told him hands on her hips. “And if it wasn’t you just who do you suggest it was?”

“What about Aderes?” he asked as he looked over to where she was with Takeru. That caused her to hide behind Takeru and Yamato completely. “Unlike me, you know nothing about her. Just that she happened to begin to appear in Takeru’s dreams and that is it.”

“I doubt that she would have helped Kistumon and unlike you, she’s actually been trying to help us! Where have _you_ been anyway? Wasn’t it your job to make sure that my Key didn’t stay in Kitsumon’s hands? You certainly had enough time to show up and take it from him by now!” Trace snapped as he glared at him. “For that matter where were you when Krista and Lexi suddenly disappeared with no one able to remember them aside from other current Key holders and Takeru?

Taylor sighed and shook his head. Luna and Trace had seen such reactions when they were younger and their elders thought they w ere nothing more than ignorant children. “Have you never thought of the fact Aderes may simply be helping Takeru to look innocent and remain by his side until she can do something? As I said before, you know nothing about her while we have known each other since we were children,” Taylor said speaking the truth. The families the Key’s had a tendency of appearing in had close relations with one another to build friendships. Trace mumbled something along the lines of not liking him then either which Taylor chose to ignore. He was a tattle tale as a kid who was a stickler for the rules. It really hadn’t surprised anyone when he had ended up with the Balance Key. “Do you not think it is a little convenient how she suddenly shows up with that dream catcher of hers around the time Takeru needed it the most? Are you also forgetting that my Key is simply the Key of Balance? How could I possibly do everything that you seem to think that I have done with my Key?”

The twins looked at one another and smiled. Apparently, Taylor thought they were dumber than they really were. As far as they were concern that was a good thing since it meant he would underestimate them. “The power of the Key of Balance is weak when compared to other keys such as Destiny, Time and Memories or even Dream and Nightmare. However, the power increases the moment the balance is lost in one realm or other granting its user the power necessary to correct the imbalance,” Luna quoted from one of the unique text books she had to read. She always remembered these type of things while Trace had to cram for tests.

Trace crossed his arms across his chest as he shifted his weight to his left leg. “So far we can count my Nightmare Realm, Takeru’s home world and the Digital world connected to it. At the rate things are going we might as well add Krista’s and Lexi’s to the list since they are not there to govern them. Who knows what type of powers you have gained because of it?” Trace pointed out as he and Luna watched him closely. They really had no clue just what he was capable of now and they really didn’t want to be taken by surprise.

“I simply gain the ability to correct things to make sure the balance is restored. Do you really think I could use it to throw things further into imbalance?” he asked the twins.

“I repeat what Trace said; we have no idea what type of powers you’ve gained. How are we to know what you can or cannot do?”

Taylor sighed and shook his head at how stubborn the two were being. The only time he had seen the two of them change their minds on anything once both of them had agreed upon something between the two of them their older sister had been involved. No one else was capable of doing so. “I see we are just going to continue to argue in circles. Star twins the only reason I am here is to bring Aderes back to the Law Realm. Just let me pass and bring her back. It is dangerous for her to be outside of it when she does not even know how to use her powers fully yet.”

“Lair!” Aderes shouted at Taylor. Yamato, Takeru, and Aderes had moved over next to Nekitsomon to hear what was being said. She was currently glaring at Taylor from where she stood between both the brothers now holding to the back of both their shirts. Takeru wasn’t quite sure just what is was she was so afraid of at the moment. She had both Nekitsomon and Leormon, who followed them over, to protect her. She herself had even said Taylor wouldn’t hurt her.

Luna looked back at them then to Taylor and shook her head as she took her key out of her pocket to be safe. It was still attached to the chain she had given to Takeru earlier and like he had done it was attached to her belt. She would not end up like her brother if she could help it. “No, Aderes has already made it clear that she doesn’t want to go back to the Law Realm! She wants to come stay with me and my brothers until things calm down!” Luna told him and that was when Taylor actually showed an expression; rage. It was only there for a second but they all saw it before it was replaced with a smile. The type salesmen had when they were trying to sell you something they knew you really weren’t interested in. If the smile was meant to calm them down it did not work it just made them all that more on edge. Not to mention something just felt off about this to the twins.

“I’m afraid this is where we will have to disagree. You see Aderes just isn’t safe to be around right now as she doesn’t know how to fully control her powers. It would be better for everyone if you just let me take her so she doesn’t accidentally hurt anyone when her powers do go out of control,” he told the twins both of who shook their heads. As for Aderes, she proceeded to stick her tongue out at him. With him not really doing anything to anyone she was getting braver.

“From what I have been able to see she has a very good hold on her powers since she helped my sister fix this bridge and I damn well know that Luna did not have enough power at the time to do it on her own,” Trace told him.

“You seem to forget that being the next in line for the Law Key she has everyone’s powers including yours Trace! If you the original owner cannot control them what makes you think she can?” he asked Trace who glanced over to Aderes. She was still standing between the two brothers holding onto the back of their shirts. Both Hikari and Kohana walked over to them to find out what was going. Soon she was talking to the two.

Trace pointed to them. “All I see is a girl that is scared of what will happen if we send her back. If she really couldn’t control her powers like me Takeru and Yamato both would have been badly hurt by now or worse,” Trace pointed out causing Taylor to glare at him. Trace glanced at his sister. “He’s not really good at this whole convincing thing is he?” Trace asked her and Luna shook his head.

She stood beside her brother, hands behind her back. “He is to use to being on the side that everyone else is on because he followed the rules to the letter,” she said as she glanced at her brother who nodded.

Trace turned his attention to Taylor again. “Well, anything else you want to try to prove how stupid you think we are? Or are you just going to throw a fit and try to overpower the two of us? Cause quite frankly, I’d hate to destroy this bridge after my sis and Aderes just went through the trouble of fixing it. Just curious but _you_ do realize you happen to be standing on something that I could easily destroy, right?” Trace asked as he slowly began to pull off his gloves as if he had all the time in the world. Taylor glanced down at his feet and actually took a few steps back causing Trace to grin. “Didn’t think that through well did ya?”

Taylor looked at him the blank expression back on his face. “You wouldn’t do it! You of all people, Trace, would not do something to purposefully hurt someone!”

Trace whistled a bit surprised by this. “Hey you do actually know me better than I thought! Then again who said anything about hurting? Lu and I used to shove each other off the border of our own realms as jokes until Krista got tired of hunting us down. The only thing that will happen to you is that you will end up in one of the lower realms or even back on our own planet without a single thing wrong with you being what you are and all,” Trace told him with a shrug.

The two twins really had thought it was funny to push each other off until Krista had finally tanned their hides over it. The only reason he had not wanted the others to fall was because they had no idea where they would have ended up or if it was even safe for a normal human to do. Just because it was safe for his kind did not mean the same could be safe for Takeru or Kusarimon. They had been stopped before Rascmon and Bithamon came about.

“You two were lucky then! You do not always end up some place safe if you fall out of a realm!” Taylor warned them and the twins glanced at each other wondering if he was telling the truth or not. They had done it quite a few times to one another and had never ended up any place that had actually put the two of them in danger. More often than not they had ended up back on their own home world. The only time it had actually hurt was when Krista finally got tired of it.

The two just shrugged and Luna said, “Don’t worry we have faith enough in you to think you could protect yourself.” Taylor just shook his head. He had forgotten how mischievous the twins could be if they put their mind to it. He never understood how Krista had been able to deal with them on her own.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> What’s this? A second chapter in a month? I promised myself that I was going to increase the amount of updates I do this year (I posted about it on my Livejournal username is childofdreamz) so as long as I have a chapter ready on Wednesday’s I am going to try and post it up :D
> 
> Thanks to everyone for the Kudo's sorry I haven't said anything before I kept forgetting. Most of you have been guests so thank you guests ^_^
> 
> @ittybittymattycommittee - thanks for the most recent Kudos :D
> 
> Edited – Jan 19 2017 for formatting issues and minor mistakes missed the first time around. What do I expect sending something through three different programs? Written in Scrivener, grammar checked in Grammarly, then one last check in MS Word.

" _You two were lucky then! You do not always end up some place safe if you fall out of a realm!" Taylor warned them and the twins glanced at each other wondering if he was telling the truth or not. They had done it quite a few times to one another and had never ended up any place that had actually put the two of them in danger. More often than not they had ended up back on their own home world. The only time it had actually hurt was when Krista finally got tired of it._

_The two just shrugged and Luna said, "Don't worry we have faith enough in you to think you could protect yourself." Taylor just shook his head. He had forgotten how mischievous the twins could be if they put their mind to it. He never understood how Krista had been able to deal with them on her own._

"You don't have to worry, Aderes. Luna and Trace won't allow him to come near you if you don't want him to," Hikari told her unsure of just why she was scared. She had told them that Taylor would not hurt her so there shouldn't have been a reason she was afraid of him. If this was true, why was she?

"I'm not afraid of what he would do to me even if he would do something to me," Aderes stated as she stepped away from Takeru and Yamato to look at all of them.

"Then what are you afraid of?" Kohana asked fearing she already knew the answer to the question. She had heard something similar to this in a movie before. A horror movie that is.

"I'm afraid of what he will do to you guys," Aderes answered confirming what Kohana had feared. All of them, except Yamato who kept an eye on the battle, glanced over to where the twins were in time to see Trace pull his gloves off.

"Whatever is going on Trace isn't too happy about it," Takeru stated as he watched them. He just hoped the twins weren't going to get in over their heads. He wanted to call them back but was afraid of what would happen if Taylor did get across the bridge. Plus honestly, there was not any way for him to tell just what could be considered in over their heads. "Aderes what is the worst thing he could do?" Takeru asked as he kept his attention on the two.

"I dunno… With things going the way they are right now I don't know what type of powers he might have. I do know that he seems to be using powers a lot like mine, but I think he's just being resourceful with what skills he does have to make it seem that way. He isn't creative, but that doesn't mean he does not know how to use his powers to the fullest," Aderes answered him as she thought over it. "With the Law Key holder missing its possible his Balance Key is trying to take the place of my momma's Key, but I don't know."

"If he can do everything a Law Key holder is able to do they are probably the best ones to deal with him because of their abilities. The Digimon probably couldn't even handle him without getting hurt," Yamato commented as he glanced at what was going on then turned his focus back to the battle. He also doubted that they could even get the Digimon to fight him unless they were certain that Taylor would attack them. Even then they might hesitate.

"Hopefully they don't get in over their heads," Hikari said voicing Takeru's earlier thoughts as she turned her attention back to the Digimon battle. "Come on guys you can do it!" she shouted to the Digimon. She didn't know if they could hear her or not with where she was, but it was better than just waiting like she was without doing anything!

Trace and Luna watched Taylor closely as he seemed to be thinking things over carefully. When Trace saw him go for his pocket he dropped to his knees his hands a few inches away from the bridge. "Careful Taylor you better not be reaching for your key," Trace warned him and Taylor pulled his hands away from his pockets.

"Whoa calm down Trace I was just reaching for my cell phone," Taylor told him keeping his hands clear of his pockets for the moment.

Luna blinked. "Why would you have a cell phone?" Luna asked as they weren't exactly common in their world because people preferred other means of communication available to them. The Star Siblings had them because Krista insisted on it for when they were on a different world together. They had a way to use cell towers without having to actually pay for a plan on that particular world. So far Luna's was the only one that could communicate between realms because it took a lot of energy on her part to make it do so.

"Because not everyone wants to waste effort with other forms of communication," Taylor stated as he reached for it once again. Trace did not move in case he really was going for his Key, but when Taylor pulled his hand out of his pocket he held up a flip phone. "See? Just my phone," he told him as he opened it. Still, the twins kept an eye on him and he chuckled. "You think I had a death ray on my phone or something with the way the two of you are glaring at me," he stated after pushing a few buttons on his phone. Then he tossed it to Luna who caught it though she held it out away from her as if it had razor sharp teeth and would bite her at any moment. She looked at the screen and her face paled.

"Lu what's wrong?" Trace asked her and she held the cell phone out to where he could see it. On the phone was a picture of Krista and Lexi. The two of them seemed to be asleep in a grassy field of some sort their Digimon with them who were also asleep. Trace glared at Taylor. "So you did take them!" Trace snapped at him and almost destroyed the bridge there.

"If you want them back I wouldn't do that if I was you!" Taylor shouted causing Trace to stop with his hands now almost touching the bridge. It was hard holding them there.

"Say whatever the hell it is you want to say before I destroy the damn bridge!" Trace snapped at him. "And be careful of what it is you are going to say or I swear you will fucking regret it!"

"Just let me get Ader-" Taylor began only to have Trace slam his hands down onto the bridge. While he wanted his two sisters back safe and sound he wasn't about to hand over Aderes to a guy who had clearly gone, psycho. Especially since said girl could make things worse for them if Taylor convinced her to help him instead. Plus if he did Krista would beat him up for it later. She would rather Aderes be safe then for her to be used to trade for Krista. As for Lexi, well, she could take care of herself a lot better then Aderes would be able to since she didn't have a key like Lexi did.

"Wrong Choice!" Trace shouted as his powers began to destroy the bridge. There were no cracks, no pieces that fell, or anything else to show something was going on it just simply vanished. Trace concentrated hard keeping the destructive power going forward as it would head his direction any second if he allowed it to. It was a power that really just wanted to destroy whatever it could no matter the consequences to its host. Taylor tried to run back to the Law Realm before the bridge vanished from underneath him, but Trace's powers consumed the bridge before he could. Luna and Trace watched as Taylor fell into the darkness.

Takeru and the others began to walk towards them as Trace stood up and began to pull his gloves on when he felt the ground shift under him. "Shi-" was about all Trace was able to get out before him and Luna began to fall as well. Apparently he had not controlled his power as well as he thought he had. It had been awhile since he had tried to do such precise control over it after all. Takeru and Yamato ran the last few feet between them and the two brothers dropped to their knees to catch the twins as Hikari and Kohana ran to help. Yamato managed to get a hold of Luna's hand and Takeru grabbed a hold of Trace's grunting from the pain it put him in.

"What happened to those wings of yours?" Takeru grunted as he tried to pull Trace up as Kohana knelt beside him to try and help. As she was reaching for him both Takeru and her noticed Trace was looking extremely pale. It took the two a bit to realize Trace didn't have his gloves on and Takeru had a hold of his hand, palm to palm. "Trace, let Kohana have your other hand I can't pull you up," Takeru said as he continued to try and pull Trace up. It was obvious that the older teen was keeping his other hand out of Kohana's reach on purpose.

"Takeru you have no idea just how hard it is not hurting you right now!" Trace said through gritted teeth as sweat began to pour down his face. He had never concentrated on his own powers this hard in his life. He'd be damned, though, if he let it hurt one of his few friends.

"Just reach up here and I can grab hold of your wrist if nothing else!" Kohana snapped as she noticed Takeru's face was almost as pale as Trace's now. Hikari and Yamato quickly pulled Luna up in case they had to help Takeru.

"Just do it Trace before you really do hurt him!" Luna snapped at her twin as she reached down to grab hold of Trace's wrist of the hand Takeru had trying to get some of the weight off Takeru. Hikari had to grab her around the waist to keep her from falling again as Takeru had the longer reach. Trace grimaced and reached up with his free hand. Kohana did as she had said and grabbed a hold of wrist and with her and Luna's help Takeru was able to pull Trace up.

At this point, Takeru was in tears with how much his chest was hurting. "I am not moving at all tomorrow," he said through gritted teeth as he sat down. Kohana and Trace sat near him as Trace quickly pulled his gloves on.

"Are you going to be okay?" Kohana asked Takeru who just nodded for the moment. By then he was nearly in the fetal position while sitting up in an effort to stop some of the pain he felt.

Yamato watched his brother wishing he had thought to bring some of Takeru's medicine with him. "Just what happened?" Yamato asked as he looked at the twins.

"Trace's power must have destroyed something that was supporting the ground we were on. Maybe part of the bridge was under there or something," Luna tried to explain with a shrug. She then looked at her twin who seemed to be having a contest with Takeru on just how pale one could become. "Are you alright?"

Trace glanced at his sister then at his own hands. "Oh, I'm fine I might just throw up, though," Trace said as he shivered slightly. He had seen what his powers could do to living flesh and he never wanted to see that again. The thought alone of it happening was almost enough to make him run to the edge of the realm and empty his stomach.

"I'm fine, Trace, see?" Takeru said holding his hands up so Trace could see that there was no injury. Kohana did the same. "Didn't even get zapped by static electricity."

"Still think I'm going to be sick…" Trace told him as he looked at the two.

"Well if you do, do it over the edge please?"

"Already thought of that," Trace stated with a slight shake of his head. His sister walked over to him and smacked him alongside the back of his head. "Ow!" Trace shouted as he placed his hand on his head. She had hit him with her full strength and she was not a weakling. "What was that for?"

"Next time let me punch him before you drop him! Think before you go around destroying things like that as well!" she said then grabbed him by the front of the shirt staring him in his eyes as she glared at him. "Most importantly if someone who is injured catches you like that again, _brother_ , don't make them hold you longer than necessary," she told him her voice having a threat of doing something worse to him if he ever did such a thing again. Trace glanced at Takeru who was back in his almost fetal position with Yamato knelt down beside him. He then looked at his twin and nodded again.

Only then did she let go of his shirt shoving him slightly to where he fell onto his back. "Good," she stated and stuffed Taylor's phone into her hip pocket. She was going to look over it once they were done here very carefully. Maybe she would even let Koushiro have a try at it or even better her little brother. Lee loved to take apart things when they were no longer useful.

Trace covered his eyes with his arm as he tried to calm his racing heart only to feel Luna poke him with her boot. "What now?" he asked her.

"You're lucky he just didn't let go," she told him though she knew Takeru wouldn't have done such a thing.

Trace groaned and said, "I get it already!" He sat up and looked at his sister. "You do realize I would have rather fallen then taken the chance of hurting him right?"

Luna knelt down beside him and flicked his forehead. Trace glared at her and sat up quickly to where he could stare her in the eyes. She then smiled and ruffled his hair before standing up straight. "Have more faith in yourself," she told him as she took a few steps away from him. He grumbled something under his breath but she was unable to hear him.

"Was it really necessary to drop him like that?" Yamato asked as he stood up as well to look at the twins.

Luna's way of answering was to show the pictures of her sisters though she knew Yamato wouldn't recognize them. She showed them to Takeru as well when he lifted his head off his knees for a moment. "He wanted Aderes in return for them," Luna said as she also showed Aderes the photo as she had walked up to Luna. "If we had done so not only would it most likely cause us trouble later on, but Kris would have been upset with us when she found out about it. Kris cares for children too much to let one be used as ransom for her and Lexi. Besides those two can take care of themselves and I doubt he'll hurt them because of how badly he wants Aderes."

"Are you sure that was okay?" Aderes asked them. She and Leormon were now staring at where the bridge had once been. This was the first time she had actually seen the Nightmare Key holder's abilities even though she herself had them. She had never had any reason to use them before and she wasn't sure if they were even awoken yet. Law Key users' powers woke up over time and unlike the others who usually got the key after theirs awoke. She wouldn't have gotten it until hers had fully awakened.

"It would have left a bad taste in my mouth if I let him take you," Trace told her though it was obvious that not only was he in a bad mood, by Luna's doing or by what just happened no one was quite sure, he was also a little green.

Aderes looked at him then Luna before looking down at the ground. "Thank you," she told them. Luna walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. Aderes was a bit surprised at first, but then she hugged Luna back. Takeru watched the two for a moment.

It was obvious to those who were watching and those who were participating in the fight that Kitsumon was becoming tired of it as he was now trying to finish it. Sou'Zakamon and Lex Kusarimon were no longer able to keep up with his speed and where nothing more than targets at this point. Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode was trying his best to follow his movements, but every once in awhile he would seem to vanish even to him. It would normally happen right before Kitsumon would attack him so it did not bother him too much at this point.

After all, if he knew it was going to happen it meant he could use the attacks to his advantage. All he would have to do was attack as soon as Kitsumon vanished. It would be a bit of a gamble on his part because he had no guarantee that Kitsumon would be heading right at him but he was willing to take the risk. Besides nothing else was really working at this point so he might as well take the chance. "Giga Death!" Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode Shouted moving his Proton Laser to the dragon head on his chest then fired off the attack. The attack itself consumed a lot of energy so as soon as it was released he was forced to devolve to V-mon and Wormmon to be caught by Sou'Zakamon and Lex Kusarimon when the two realized what had happened.

To their surprise, the attack worked as it not only managed to hit Kitsumon but the shock of being hit by such a powerful attack seemed to cause him to freeze for a moment. Seraphimon did not hesitate to take advantage of this as he dove at Kitsumon backed up by Ofanimon. "Excalibur!" he shouted as he slashed the energy sword at Kitsumon the attack hitting without Kitsumon trying to stop it. Ofanimon tried to stab him with her javelin but he seemed to come to his senses then and quickly retreated away from her going on the defense for a moment. Kitsumon's surprise did not last long and soon he was on the attack again.

Omegamon had watched what Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode had done closely and realized that something was not quite right. In fact, he realized that the opening he had caused might be able to be repeated and to test this out Omegamon actually devolved to Metal Garurumon and War Greymon. This was not something to be done lightly because they were not like Aiden's Digimon. Depending on how things went for them they might not be able to evolve back into Omegamon during this battle. Still to figure out that chance that Imperial Dramon had managed to create the two were willing to take the risk.

Sou'Zakamon handed V-mon off to Lex Kusarimon who quickly ran the two Child Digimon back to their human partners. Metal Garurumon broke free of the battle while War Greymon was doing his best to pick up the slack their devolving had caused. Once he was free of the battle Metal Garurumon activated his radar and got ready.

"What's going on?" Takeru asked as he had lifted his head again and was watching the battle. The pain had lessened a bit by now which he was thankful for.

"I think they realized something from Imperial Dramon's attack," Yamato answered as he watched his Digimon closely. He knew they would not have separated like that unless they did have some type of plan. It was just too risky of a move to do without one.

"Sorry we had to pull out early," V-mon told Daisuke when Lex Kusarimon set him down.

"Don't worry about that you guys managed to land the best hit on him so far in this fight!" Daisuke praised him with a grin on his face. "Besides you seemed to give an idea to Metal Garurumon and War Greymon," Daisuke added as he pointed up to the two Digimon and the little Dragon Digimon turned to look at the fight wondering what the two Digimon had seen.

Metal Garurumon had hoped that by pulling away from the others it would make Kitsumon target him and that was exactly what the deranged fox Digimon did. After all the more Digimon he dropped out of the battle the more likely he was to get what he wanted. Like he had done with Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode, Kitsumon vanished right before his attack on Metal Garurumon even disappearing from his radar for a moment. The first time this happened Metal Garurumon simply took the hit knowing he had enough energy to do so safety. He wanted Kitsumon to attack him again so he was certain of what he had learned and of course being the cocky Digimon he was he did exactly as Metal Garurumon wanted.

Just when Kitsumon had vanished, Metal Garurumon opened up all missile ports on his body and released all the missiles he had on him at the moment. Since he had not actually targeted anything they simply went straight out of the missile ports which was what Metal Garurumon wanted. He was not willing to gamble as much as Imperial Dramon had. Like what had happened with Imperial Dramon, when Kitsumon reappeared he was hit by the attack without even attempting to block it. Maybe it was more like he was unable to which was what Metal Garurumon was trying to figure out. Kitsumon froze again like he had done the first time when he had been hit by Imperial Dramon. War Greymon, Seraphimon, and Ofanimon dove at the chance to attack him. Just like before he was forced to go on the defensive to avoid their attacks, but like last time it didn't last for long.

To make sure he had actually found what he believed to have found Metal Garurumon repeated the process one more time. He wanted to see if he, thanks to Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode, had actually managed to finally find a weak spot of Kitsumon's. When the results were the same as the first attempt Metal Garurumon joined the others in fighting. Even if he could create an opportunity at this point no one in their group now had a certain one hit, one kill move that they were willing to use. If they made Seraphimon use his the entire point of this fight would be lost.

Of course, this did not stop him and the others from trying to win. If nothing else it actually gave them hope that they could beat Kitsumon and they attacked him with renewed efforts. They could at least try to find other ways to guarantee a one hit certain kill opportunity. Kitsumon must have sensed or realized what was going on because he slowly began to switch from being the one to attack to the one avoiding attacks altogether.

It was obvious he was getting ready to flee most likely he was just waiting for an opening to do so. The four Ultimate level Digimon tried their hardest to stop him from getting away as they wanted this battle to end just as much as the others. Yet since none of them could actually match his speed none of them could really stop him. Soon Kitsumon managed to create an opening for himself to use the Nightmare Key to summon an escape route for himself. Sou'Zakamon rushed at it followed by the four Ultimate level Digimon. Sou'Zakamon hoped he could reach the door before it closed so they could chase after him, but right as he reached it the door slammed shut.

"We could have had him this time!" Sou'Zakmamon shouted as he punched the door right before it vanished. He then turned to look at his four friends. "Sorry, I couldn't reach it in time…"

"Don't worry about it. I believe we may be able to get him next time," Metal Garurumon stated as he looked at War Greymon.

"Are you certain? It will work?" War Greymon asked him. It was obvious to the others that the two were continuing a conversation they must have had while they were Omegamon. Metal Garurumon simply nodded and War Greymon grinned.

"What will work?" Ofanimon asked the two as the three angelic Digimon floated there in confusion. They also kept an eye out for Kitsumon in case he decided to double back on them. You never really knew what the fox Digimon would do.

"I'll explain later when everyone is gathered," Metal Garurumon answered as War Greymon and he began to land. Those two did not think he would return as Kitsumon had been damaged enough to require some sort of medical attention or food. Seraphimon and Ofanimon looked at each other and shrugged.

"Are they always secretive like this?" Sou'Zakamon asked the two as they began to land as well.

"Only when they think they have to be," Seraphimon answered and looked back at Sou'Zakamon. "Remember who's in charge of this realm right now."

"Right," Sou'zakamon said with a nod as most of the humans began to walk towards where the Digimon were landing. As Seraphimon pointed out the two had very good reasons to keep such things to themselves…

Yamato turned to look at his brother. "Can you stand up?" he asked him.

Takeru sighed as he shifted his position slightly. "I don't want to but I just can't stay here all day… I'll need help, though," Takeru said holding his hands up. Trace stood up and took hold of them and helped pull Takeru up into a standing position. Tears welled up in Takeru's eyes from the surge of pain, but now that he was up he began to walk towards the other group slowly his friends keeping pace with him.

By then Metal Garurumon had already devolved to Gabumon and he ran up to Yamato almost tackling his friend in his excitement. "Yamato! I think I may have been able to find Kitsumon's weakness!" Gabumon announced happily as he hugged Yamato. Then he looked at Takeru grinning. "We should be able to beat him next time we face him!"

"Really?" Yamato asked slightly surprised and pleased he had been right about what his Digimon and War Greymon had been doing.

"Yes, but we will need the help of Aiden's Digimon and Imperial Dramon," Gabumon said as he turned to look at the others who had followed after Gabumon.

"We'll do whatever we can!" V-mon reassured him and Wormmon nodded in agreement.

"Well we will have to see if he will even help us first before we start planning," Yamato said as Kohana walked over to Tsumon. The angelic Digimon was covered in wounds from blocking attacks for his friends, but despite this, he was in a pretty good mood even when Kohana began to apply disinfectant to them. Hikari and she both had a bag given to them by Jou to treat Digimon injuries with. Trace was trying and seemingly failing to find any on Rascmon. He only knew something was wrong with him because Rascmon was not putting any weight on one leg.

"How the heck am I supposed to treat your injuries if I can't even find them?" Trace asked his Digimon as he carefully ran his hands over the injured leg. From what Trace could tell there was nothing to show what was wrong with it besides Rascmon's refusal to walk it. It irritated Trace that he was never able to do anything to help him since Rascmon was made of fire. The dog Digimon really did not seem to have a normal body under it in the first place. He was solid enough proved by the fact Patamon was constantly riding on him, but that didn't seem to mean anything for this Digimon.

"Simple you do not," was Rascmon's response causing Trace to sigh and throw his hands in the air as he gave up. Trace knew he was right after being his partner this long. Still, it was frustrating not being able to help him.

Patamon landed on Yamato's shoulder since he was the closest to Takeru at the moment. From what Takeru could tell he had a few injuries, but they were nowhere near as bad as what Tsumon and most likely Rascmon had. The others seemed the same way most of the injuries having been received after Rascmon and Tsumon had no longer been able to protect them. Takeru didn't know whether to say it was a good thing or not that the Digimon able to evolve to Ultimate had gotten off almost injury free due to the efforts of those two.

Luna, with Bithamon on her shoulder, moved away from the others her key in the hand. "Does everyone want to go back to the hotel or is there someplace else you would rather go right now?" she asked the group now that everyone was there. She honestly would be surprised if everyone wanted to go back to the hotel.

"I want to go home," Takeru told her wanting to not only take off the brace but to take something for the pain he was in. That and sleep would be really good at this point.

"Gabumon and I will go with him," Yamato said since at this point Takeru was once again leaning on his good side. Yamato was beginning to get used to Takeru doing this and was wondering just how much pain his little brother was in at this point. Takeru wasn't one to rely on someone unless he knew he really had no choice on the matter or if it was better to do so in the long run.

"We will go with him as well," Iori said and Armadimon nodded. Miyako had not come with them this time since they wanted someone to keep an eye on Aiden just in case. Sora, Koushiro, and Jou were also waiting at the hotel just to be safe.

"Alright then I'll open a door up for you then," Luna said as she made a doorway appear for them.

"Kohana and I will go ahead and go to the hotel. I want to talk to Aiden and Kohana wants to finish translating the papers," Hikari said as Kohana waved to Takeru who waved back before he walked through the doorway with his brother. He didn't hear any more of the conversation after that since Iori and Armadimon had gone through first.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> A/N- Sorry for being a day late. I mentioned I would be on my twitter (I'm @Amaritage). Kind of tired myself out doing things around the house. Beginning to spot words or phrases that are not needed when I write XD.

" _I want to go home," Takeru told her wanting to not only take off the brace but to take something for the pain he was in. That and sleep would be really good at this point._

" _Gabumon and I will go with him," Yamato said since at this point Takeru was once again leaning on his good side. Yamato was beginning to get used to Takeru doing this and was wondering just how much pain his little brother was in at this point. Takeru wasn't one to rely on someone unless he knew he really had no choice on the matter or if it was better to do so in the long run._

_"We will go with him as well," Iori said and Armadimon nodded. Miyako had not come with them this time since they wanted someone to keep an eye on Aiden just in case. Sora, Koushiro, and Jou were also waiting at the hotel just to be safe._

" _Alright then I'll open a door up for you then," Luna said as she made a doorway appear for them._

_"Kohana and I will go ahead and go to the hotel. I want to talk to Aiden and Kohana wants to finish translating the papers," Hikari said as Kohana waved to Takeru who waved back before he walked through the doorway with his brother. He didn't hear any more of the conversation after that since Iori and Armadimon had gone through first._

Yamato helped Takeru over to his bed and Takeru sat down. Instantly he began to attack the straps on his brace without taking his school coat and shirt off. The sooner he got the thing off the better he would feel in the long run.

"I'll go tell mom that we're back," Yamato said as he began to leave the room. Takeru stopped what he was doing to look at his brother.

"Wait, Yamato," he called after his brother who stopped in the doorway. "I just told her I was going to the hotel after school," Takeru informed him. Yamato looked at his brother for a moment sighed and nodded. He then went to go talk to their mother.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Iori asked him as he slipped his shoes off sitting at Takeru's desk to do so. He didn't want to walk through the house with them on. It was one of the bad things about Digital Portals and those doorways as far as he was concerned.

Takeru looked at him. "Not that I can think of but thank you just the same," Takeru told him and Iori nodded.

"Alright then. I will go ahead and go home then. If you do need anything please call me," Iori told him and the two said goodbye before Iori and Armadimon left. Once Iori was out of the room Takeru carefully slipped out of his jacket then pulled off his shirt to take the brace off. At this point, he was grateful his boots could be slipped off because he did not need to bend down to take them off. By the time he had both boots off Yamato came back followed by their mother who had a bottle of water and Takeru's medicine.

"Nice collection of bruises," Yamato commented as more of the bruising had come up since he had gotten the bruised ribs. Takeru looked down at himself having a feeling that he would have more courtesy of Devimon by tomorrow.

"Honestly Takeru, if you keep pushing yourself like this you are never going to fully heal," she told him as she handed over the water and the medicine. As Takeru took the pills he wondered just what it was that Yamato had told her to explain the pain he was in. It couldn't have been everything since she seemed irritated but not actually upset with him.

"It's not like I'm trying to it just happens," he told her setting the water bottle on the nightstand. She actually tsked at him then knelt down to retrieve his boots. Takeru then noticed Yamato had removed his shoes at some point most likely at their mother's insistence. She took the boots with her as she left the room.

"What did you tell her?" Takeru asked as he carefully stood up and set his brace down beside his bed. It would cause him less pain to walk to the head of the bed and lay down then to crawl up to it.

"Most of the truth. I didn't tell her just how involved you were in it," Yamato answered still not saying it in case she could hear him. Takeru nodded as he carefully made his way to the head of the bed Yamato watching him closely.

"Thanks, Yamato," he told his brother as he climbed onto the bed. Yamato just nodded. His brother stayed until Takeru had settled onto the bed most of the movement to do so causing him to gasp more than once and his eyes to water. Once he had stopped moving Yamato left the room the two Digimon following him and he turned the light out before he left.

Takeru laid there for a bit trying to fall asleep. He had to wait for the pain medicine to kick in before he actually slipped into sleep. After that, he had strange dreams that more than once would cause him to wake up from them. Finally sometime after the sun had set Takeru decided he just wasn't going to get any real sleep so he slipped his brace back on and carefully stood up. Since the pain medicine was still in effect it was easier to move for the moment.

When he walked into the living room he found that his brother was still here with Gabumon and the two were watching a movie with Natsuko and Patamon while Tokamon was sound asleep on the back of the couch.

"Do you want something to eat?" his mother asked him as he sat down in the recliner near the couch. It would be easier for him to get out of if the medicine happened to wear out since he could use the arms of the chair to support his weight if he had to.

"Yes please," he told her and she nodded as she stood up to get him something while Yamato picked up the DVD controller to pause the movie then set it back down.

"You look like you didn't sleep very well," Yamato commented and Takeru nodded. While his face wasn't as pale as it had been he did look like he hadn't had a descents night sleep for awhile.

"I kept having these weird dreams that I can't even remember. I think it might be the pain medicines fault," he told his brother as he tried to find a comfortable way to sit. At this point, he was just glad he wasn't in as much pain as he had been earlier today.

Yamato watched him for a moment then said, "At this rate, you're going to spend most of your summer stuck at home healing," Yamato told him and Takeru groaned. He really hoped not that would be a cruddy way to spend his first summer in high school.

"I hope not," he told his brother speaking his thought aloud. "Hikari and Kohana are planning some sort of trip for all of the second generation Chosen this summer," he added as a means of explanation and Yamato smiled.

"Well then stop agitating your ribs so much and they'll most likely be healed before you go," he stated causing Takeru to roll his eyes. He made it sound so simple.

"That is a lot easier said than done," Takeru stated and Yamato just chuckled. Takeru shook his head then looked at his brother to ask, "Did I miss anything while I was asleep?"

"Not much… There have been a few group text messages going around, but that was just because not everyone knew what had happened," Yamato told him as he glanced at his cell phone which was sitting near the remote so he wouldn't have to keep pulling out of his pocket every time it had gone off. "From what I found out some of our friends at the hotel had to leave as soon as the others had gotten back." Takeru knew he most likely meant Jou. He had a pretty heavy load of classes right now. "Apparently Aiden has even agreed to help fight even though his Digimon still haven't evolved, but I have a feeling it might take them a few more days with how hard they pushed themselves for him." Takeru hoped his brother was right about that. The further back a Digimon was knocked back the longer it took them to gain enough power to evolve to higher stages. Patamon was a very good example of that.

"I'm glad that he's agreed to help. I was actually kinda afraid he would decide to go back to his home world after everything that has happened. Then again he seemed pretty determined to stay here…" Takeru said to his brother who nodded in agreement. It wasn't just because they needed him for Gabumon's plan to work, whatever it was. Takeru was mainly glad that he was staying because he really didn't think Aiden would ever really be happy in his home world after all that had happened to him and to it.

After Takeru had eaten, he returned to his room since he just wasn't able to find a comfortable way to sit in the living room. It was no better at his desk, but at least in here, he had things he could use to distract himself beside a movie that was halfway done. At least Takeru tried to focus on what he had at hand yet he kept finding his mind wandering. After awhile he gave up and decided to try to play a few video games with Patamon until his mind wanted to focus on more than just games. It annoyed him that he couldn't focus because at the moment he really felt like writing but had more than once found himself just staring at the paper in front of him for minutes at a time without writing anything. With the game, if he lost focus on it Patamon would have a go at him which would cause him to focus on it again.

After being beaten a fifth time in a row by Patamon, Takeru gave up on the game as well. "What's wrong?" Patamon asked him as Takeru put his DS Lite up in a desk drawer.

Takeru sighed and said, "I don't know… I'm having problems focusing right now. Maybe it's the pain medicine." He looked at Patamon then added, "Or maybe I'm still tired." The pain medicine hadn't affected him like this before so he was going to bet it had something to do with being tired. It was also possible that it was some type of side effect from using Luna's key twice in a row.

He was about ready to go back into the living room when his cell phone alerted him to a text message. Yamato must have put it on his desk at some point since that was where Takeru found it. He picked it up and noticed besides the group text messages he had gotten there was also one from Hikari. It told him about how she had talked to Aiden and that in the end, he had agreed to help them. The text also said how Aiden was thinking about taking Minervamon's egg into the Digital world. Once there he planned to hand it over to Elecmon in Primary Village. Hikari was now attempting to talk him out of it auguring that it was a poor way to pay her back for helping him since it was obvious Minervamon wanted nothing more than to be with him. Aiden, in turn, had pointed out that he wasn't sure he would be able to take care of her on top of his own Digimon.

It took a moment for Takeru to realize what Aiden was meaning. Unlike Takeru and the others, Aiden would have to get a job to feed his Digimon, himself, and pay rent. With what jobs he would be able to get it would be difficult to keep the three of them feed let alone a fourth Digimon since Digimon could eat a lot when compared to most humans. Aiden was trying to do what he thought would be best for Mineveramon instead of taking the risk that she would end up with less then what she really needed.

Hikari most likely had realized this as well and while Takeru agreed it would be a poor way to pay Minervamon back he knew it would be worse for Aiden to keep her if he couldn't fully take care of her. He sent Hikari a text stating as much just in case it hadn't occurred to her. If he would be able to keep her depended on whether or not one of the other Chosen would allow him to stay with them. No one had brought the idea up to any of them from what Takeru knew. He sent a second text telling her maybe one of them could take Minervamon in for him and that may be the only help Aiden would actually accept from them.

After the text message was sent Takeru closed his phone and placed it in his pocket this time so it would be close at hand if he got a response. Then he attempted to find something he could do with how short of an attention span he had at the moment. When he still had trouble focusing after an hour he sent a text message to Luna asking her if what was happening to him was a possible side effect from him using her key.

Takeru didn't get an immediate answer from her, but when she did response it was full of emoticons which had him smiling a bit. The text told him that it was possible that the drain of energy that he had experienced just hadn't fully recovered yet despite the nap he had taken so his body was just sluggish since it had yet to fully recover the lost energy. If that was indeed the case then it would most likely go away with a good night of sleep so there wasn't anything for him to worry.

Takeru sighed as he pocketed his cell phone having wished for some other way to get over this sluggish feeling besides sleep. He decided to just deal with it and figured it couldn't be all that bad because as it was he couldn't even focus too long on what little pain he was currently in. This made it pretty easy to sit and watch movies with his mother. By then Yamato had asked to borrow Takeru's laptop to work on some of his assignments which Takeru happily lent him. At least one of them would be getting some work done today.

Since it was like this for the remainder of the time he was up, Takeru had been tempted to go to bed early. Instead, he had stayed up until Yamato had left to head to their father's apartment. Takeru had bid him good night then had simply gone to bed.

"I wondered if you were going to try to use it or not," Takeru heard which caused him to nearly jump. He turned to face Aderes who stood to the side of him smiling slightly. Then Takeru took a look around them and realized they were in a grassy field. The bright sunlight, the flowers and the general feeling of a late spring day told him that this was the Dream Realm that Lee had once shown him last year.

"How are we even here?" Takeru asked her as he remembered what Luna had told him about his dream island. If he had understood her correctly back then this should not have been possible for him without going to the dream realm itself.

"Guess how Luna and I spent our evening!" Aderes said in a sing-song voice her smile turning into a full out grin. Takeru understood then what must have happened. The two must have somehow fixed his dream island. Takeru looked at her and smiled slightly. That would make one less thing that he would have to worry about. "It seems Taylor somehow found a way to destroy the bridges that connected it to the other islands then managed to hid it away in the Balance Realm," she explained to him as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. "With Trace destroying the bridge out from underneath Taylor, the Star Siblings and I were able to look around the realm without any real worry. We sort of just happened to stumble upon it." She shrugged then as if to say she had no idea why it would have been there of all places.

"Then you weren't actually looking for it? You just found it by accident?" Takeru asked her and Aderes nodded. Accident or not it was good news for him as it meant an even smaller chance of running into Kitsumon while he slept now. Yet, why were they there in the first place? "Why were you in the Balance Realm?" Takeru asked aloud as he tried to picture just what the Balance Realm would look like. He just kept picturing two islands balanced on an old fashion scale that had once been used to weigh coins and other such things.

"They were hoping to find their missing sisters there. None of the Star Siblings had been there before so they asked me to go with them since I told Luna that Taylor used to take me there all the time. Luna figured since he would still be trying to get back from where it was he ended up at it would be the perfect chance to look around," Aderes answered him. It made him wonder why Taylor just hadn't used his key to get back to his own realm but decided against asking her. He was confused enough as it was when it came to things related to them he didn't need another information dump.

"Well, did you happen to find anything besides my dream island?" he asked her and Aderes's happy expression vanished as she shook her head. Takeru sighed then said, "I wish there was something more we could do to help them." The whole key things were way beyond his abilities obviously. He could help search but unless something came up that somehow involved Digimon there was nothing that he could do for them.

Aderes watched him for a moment seemingly thinking on something then said, "Tomorrow I will be helping Lee to see if we can't unlock the memories about Kris and Lexi so at least that way everyone will be able to remember them. Then they can help keep an eye out for them while they are out and about. Though we have decided to leave the hotel people's memories as they are. There is no real reason to restore them since it would only cause them to be confused and might even lead to panic."

Takeru nodded and wondered why the memories had been erased in the first place. Someone must have seen something Taylor had not wanted them to see so he had just done a massive wipe to deal with it. "What if they saw something important?" Takeru asked her.

"Lee is going to go over the locked memories of the hotel people just to be safe. There is a chance that whatever Taylor thought someone saw if that is the reason he erased the memories, might not seem all that important to us since we can only guess at what he is planning," she told him and Takeru realized that she was correct. Still, it was worth checking just to be sure. Aderes starred at him then broke out into a smile seeming younger than she normally did since he had run into her in the real world. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what had happened. Luna was going to, but she was pretty tired after everything she had done today. That and I wanted to let you know that the dream catcher still worked."

"Wait a minute! You were the one that replied to the text messages then weren't you?" Takeru asked her before she had a chance to leave. The emoticons were not something Luna would normally use, unlike Trace who liked to let them speak for had been too sluggish at the time they had come through or he would have realized something was off. Still, he would have most likely thought it was Lee or even Trace who had replied to him, not Aderes.

"Yep! She was sleeping when it came in and her brothers were off with their uncle getting take-out so I answered it for her. I haven't used a key myself before, but Taylor has told me about what could happen when he would overuse his so I knew what was going on," she explained to him. She then waited to see if he had any more questions and when it seemed he did not she walked off soon disappearing. Takeru couldn't help but wonder as she left how she managed to get around the realms if she didn't have a key before his dreams returned to normal ones.

With everything that had happened the previous day, Takeru awoke in tremendous pain. It was due to this he stayed home from school. Miyako and Iori stopped by after school to drop a few things off for him and to hang out with him. Since he hadn't heard from Aderes or any of the Star siblings the entire day he figured Lee and Aderes must still have been working on restoring the memories.

The next morning, with a mixture of his medicine and heat packs Takeru, was able to attend school. Still just to be safe his mother drove him to school before she left for work once he was ready with several extra heat packs in his bag. His mother ended up going to the back of the school when she saw the group of protesters out front. "They really do not understand anything," she said as Takeru opened the door to let Patamon out. "Will you be okay?" she asked him as he climbed out.

"Don't worry I'll be fine," he told her a slight smile on his face as he waved goodbye and began to make his way towards the school. Patamon left him there to go join the other Digimon hoping people wouldn't recognize him if he wasn't there. Back here there weren't as many protesters but there was a small handful.

Patamon's planned seemed to work until Takeru was almost all the way through the back gate. Then someone grabbed onto his arm the jarring motion causing his muscles to go into a new set of spasms which caused him to gasp. Takeru stood there for a moment waiting for the pain to go away while he ignored the person who was talking to him. Actually, it was more like they were shouting at him.

"Let him go, you moron! Can't you see he's in pain?" Takeru heard a familiar voice shout and looked to see Daisuke running towards him followed closely by Ken. It was at that point Takeru turned to look at the person who had grabbed him as he pulled his arm free from their grasp.

"I barely touched him!" the adult male snapped as he stepped back. Strangely enough compared to the other adults he looked out of place. While it was mostly stay at home mothers and a few fathers protesting this guy seemed more like he belonged in a suit then the clothes he was currently wearing.

"He has bruised ribs and randomly grabbing him does not help," Ken pointed out as Daisuke moved in between the man and Takeru. It looked like Daisuke was going to start something when the man shouted something else. Takeru grabbed his friend's arm knowing Daisuke would not pull away from him right now.

"Don't! Something isn't right about him," Takeru whispered to Daisuke. Daisuke looked at him then reluctantly nodded. Takeru let go of Daisuke's arm and continued on his way to the school. Daisuke followed after him and soon Ken did as well.

"You noticed it too huh?" Ken asked him later when they were at their respective shoe lockers. Ken and Daisuke were switching their shoes while Takeru waited for the spasms to stop so he could do the same.

"Notice what?" Daisuke asked them as he sat down by Takeru having finished already.

"That guy didn't fit in with the other parents that were protesting. I think he grabbed me on purpose hoping something might happen," Takeru told him as the spasms stopped. He then stood up so he could switch his shoes.

"Was he trying to cause trouble on purpose?" Daisuke asked while Takeru switched his shoes.

"I don't know. He might have been trying to create what would be a legitimate reason to expel us or something. We will have to be careful since Aiden's suspension is ending tomorrow," Takeru answered as Ken thought over what had happened. "All I know is if someone else grabs me like he did I may just hit them."

"I doubt it," Ken said as he looked at Takeru, "If you where Daisuke I would say that you would but it takes a lot for you to be mad enough to actually hurt someone." This caused Daisuke to glare at Ken even though he knew his friend was right.

"The pain might just be enough to make me do it. It's already bad enough without someone grabbing onto me," Takeru told him as he turned to look at the two a hand on his hip. "I don't want or need some person randomly grabbing me making it worse than it already is."

"I still do not see you punching someone…" Ken stated as they began to walk to their classroom.

"Sometimes being the nice one has its drawbacks," Takeru deadpanned. "Good thing Aiden's suspension is still in place, though. I would hate to see what would happen if they found out he was a part of what happened."

"Hikari told me he was thinking of taking a leave of absence after the suspension was over to avoid the protests though he is not sure if the school will let him," Ken told the two as they walked. Takeru had a feeling the school would probably give it to him in order to avoid even more trouble. The conversation lagged at that point as they neared their classroom. Once there they told the girls about what had happened before class began so they would know to keep an out when they left the grounds. Then the three went to their respective desks and waited for class to begin.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it's Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> A/N - I am catching up on the backlog of chapters I have written so I don't know if I will be able to keep up with the once a week updates. If not I'll let you know via twitter. I do have plenty of ideas of where I wanna go with it, but the problem is if I can get it written down. Honestly, it would help if my tablet would stop being a jerk and just work for me. Then I could just go to the library and work without interruption which happens a lot at home.

_"The pain might just be enough to make me do it. It's already bad enough without someone grabbing onto me," Takeru told him as he turned to look at the two a hand on his hip. "I don't want or need some person randomly grabbing me making it worse than it already is."_

" _I still do not see you punching someone…" Ken stated as they began to walk to their classroom._

_"Sometimes being the nice one has its drawbacks," Takeru deadpanned. "Good thing Aiden's suspension is still in place, though. I would hate to see what would happen if they found out he was a part of what happened."_

" _Hikari told me he was thinking of taking a leave of absence after the suspension was over to avoid the protests though he is not sure if the school will let him," Ken told the two as they walked. Takeru had a feeling the school would probably give it to him in order to avoid even more trouble. The conversation lagged at that point as they neared their classroom. Once there they told the girls about what had happened before class began so they would know to keep an out when they left the grounds. Then the three went to their respective desks and waited for class to begin._

Takeru was eating lunch with the others when his text tone went off. It was a message from Lee and Aderes via Luna informing him that they had found the problem with his friends and the hotel workers memories. The messaged continued stating that with Aderes' help Lee would be able to overpower what had happened to them. However, it would be best for those involved if the two of them did it at night while everyone was asleep. This way they could be sure that his friends were not doing anything dangerous while the memories restored themselves as it would temporarily cause them to freeze in place. This could be especially dangerous for the older generation who could be driving or something similar when it happened.

"Is something wrong?" Hikari asked him and Takeru looked at her as he pocketed his cell phone.

"No, everything is fine," he told her unsure just how he would explain the text message he had just gotten if he needed too. He was confused about enough as it was he did not want to try and explain it to someone else.

Since nothing was wrong Hikari nodded. "What do you guys think about spending our summer in the US this year?" Hikari then asked as she looked at the others.

"We did that already, a lot actually when we visit Mimi…" Daisuke pointed out which caused V-mon to nod in agreement.

Hikari shook her head then said, "I didn't mean the east coast. I am talking about the west coast."

"Near where Kohana's grandparents live? Or another part of the west coast?" Takeru asked having remembered that they lived over there from conversations he had with Kohana in the past.

"It's more like we will be staying at my grandparents while going around visiting various places located on U.S. Route 101. We will be seeing things like the trees in my paintings, various beaches, a petting zoo and other such attractions," Kohana told them listing just some of the things they could do. "I can get some pamphlets from my grandparents that we can look at." There were a lot of places to visit along the coast and thanks to their Digimon they would not be limited on just where they could travel.

"I think that would be a good idea. That way we will know just what all we can do if we go there," Ken said and the others nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'll get some later today. It should be pretty easy since I can use Digital Portals," she said happily. The Digital Portals were very convenient when it came to visiting people in other countries.

"Will they be alright to take our Digimon with us?" Miyako asked her not wanting to assume anything and Kohana nodded.

"They have some of their own now and I think they just like the idea of having a lot of people around. They were both from big families even though they didn't have a big family themselves," she answered and Miyako nodded. The others then began to ask Kohana about various things to do with the trip in case they agreed to it. The conversation ended when the bell for classes was about to ring and the group went back into the school.

Takeru's cell phone vibrated partway through his second to last class for the day. He wanted to check it to see what it was but he didn't want to risk getting his phone taken. It would mean more trouble for him than he was already in with the school. Due to this, he decided to wait until school was over before he checked it. He just hoped it wasn't some type of emergency, but if it was they probably would have called instead of sending a text message to him.

When the last bell had finally rung Takeru stayed at his desk to check the text message. It was another one from Luna which stated that she was still going through Taylor's phone as some of the files on it were password protected which Aderes was trying to get through. She had also typed how Aiden seemed to be getting a bit edgy since he was stuck inside for so long. She added that she wondered if there was anything they could do to calm him down before Trace and Aiden ended up in a fight. The way Luna had worded that part Takeru had a feeling that the two had already been in a fight. Takeru wasn't too surprised that Aiden was getting restless. Being just him and his Digimon for so long Aiden was used to coming and going as he pleased. It was a wonder that this hadn't been an issue sooner.

Takeru pocketed his cell phone then put everything he would need at home into his bag. Then he stood up and caught up with his friends at the shoe lockers. They waited for him as he quickly changed his indoor shoes for his regular ones.

"Any chance you can ride a Digimon out of here?" Hikari asked as she glanced at the main gate while Kohana went to check the back one.

"Is it really that bad?" Takeru asked her as he stomped his feet to make sure his boots were on right before he went to join her at the glass doors. By then Kohana had come back.

"Daisuke and Ken are checking both gates to see if anyone looks like the man from this morning hiding amongst the crowd. Ken is afraid they will try to start something again."

"Then was it a good thing to let Daisuke go? He almost started something this morning when the guy grabbed me," Takeru told the two of them as Miyako moved to where she could see the front gate as well.

"He promised Ken that he wouldn't do anything," Kohana told him and Takeru wasn't sure if that was a good enough reason to have let him go. It wouldn't be the first time Daisuke's anger had gotten the better of him.

"Wormmon went with Daisuke as well," Hikari told him and Takeru nodded in understanding. Wormmon wouldn't let Daisuke do something stupid. He knew full well what was at stake and was mellow when compared to Daisuke.

The three of them were still waiting for the others to return when their four Digimon showed up. When Daisuke and Ken finally returned to the group neither one of them appeared to be in a good mood. "I take it by your expressions that there are more of them out there?" Takeru asked and Ken shook his head. That made Takeru wonder just what had them worried then.

"There aren't but the crowds are not very happy. If I had to guess I would say someone has been riling them up while we have been in class," Ken told him and Takeru sighed. Then he shook his head and slipped his boots back off as he began walking back into the heart of the school walking in his socks as he carried his boots.

"That is it I am calling up a Digital Portal," Takeru told them and they must have agreed with his plan since they followed after him. "Luna wanted us to stop by and do something about Aiden. Apparently, he is going stir crazy and is picking fights with Trace," Takeru said as he walked up to one of the computers in the computer classroom and began to run the Digital Portal program on it.

Hikari sighed then said, "I can't really blame him. Maybe we can take him to get something to eat or just some place?" Takeru nodded in agreement. If they could get him out of the hotel there was a good chance things would calm down for a few days. They just had to make sure he didn't do anything rash until his Digimon had evolved to where they would be able to protect him. Then he would be able to go out on his own as much as he wanted.

"It would be better than just having him sit there like he is now. We still haven't found anything else about that laptop he brought with him and haven't heard anything about the data we sent out either," Ken stated and Takeru sent a text message asking Luna to open either her or Trace's laptop to where they could go straight to the hotel from the Digital World. He waited for a reply from her before he opened a portal up and they went through it.

Once they were in the Digital World, they put their shoes on than programmed the portal to take them to Luna's laptop. When it approved of the link and it opened up they went through two at a time giving enough time for the person ahead of them to move out of the way before the next group went through.

"That bad at school?" Trace asked once they had all arrived. Miyako stood off to one side as she sent a text message to Iori to let him know what had happened.

"I think someone is trying to cause trouble for us though I do not know why yet," Ken told him and Takeru noticed Trace had a stick on icepack on his cheek.

"You did get in a fight with him," Takeru stated and Trace rolled his eyes.

"He punched first I swear," Trace told him and the way he said it Takeru had a feeling that Trace had planned to finish it.

"Patients is not my twin's strongest virtue," Luna told Takeru as they walked out of the room into the hallway and over to the room Aiden was currently sharing with Trace. That was probably part of the reason they had gotten into a fight in the first place. Aiden was now used to living with only his own Digimon. While Trace was mainly used to living with his siblings. Plus their personalities were the type that clashed.

Hikari walked up to the door and knocked on it. Aiden quickly pulled it open sporting what would most likely be a fat lip by tomorrow. "Oh, it's you guys," Aiden stated before stepping out of the way so they could come in. Takeru took one look at the room and could already tell that Lee had switched with Trace, as Lee was not only sitting on one bed but his things were also now in the room. That meant Trace was now sharing a room with his Uncle Kyte. Takeru wondered how that arrangement was going to work out.

"We were wondering if you would like to hang out with us today so you can get out of the hotel for awhile," Hikari said as she walked over to check on Minervamon's Egg. From what Takeru could tell it did look a bit bigger, but that was about it. Both of Aiden's Digimon were currently bouncing on a bed with what looked like remains of a large ice cream sundae. Takeru had a feeling that the two were going to be hyper for some time thanks to it.

"Just what do you have planned?" Aiden asked them noting the Chosen were still in their school uniforms. "Not a whole lot judging by the school uniforms."

"We can go to a restaurant or if us being in uniforms really bugs you that much you can wait until we all go home to change then we could go to an arcade or something," Takeru told him as he looked at Aiden. By the way Aiden was behaving Takeru could tell Aiden was the one most likely to have started the fight. Right now he seemed to be trying to chase them off so he could be left alone. It had Takeru wondering just why he was so agitated. He hadn't been this bad the last time Takeru had seen him. "Or is there somewhere else that you would rather go?" Takeru asked him since he really had no idea just what Aiden did for fun. That was the problem with new friends. Takeru knew Aiden preferred to be outdoors but that was about it.

Aiden thought over the question then looked at Takeru and said, "I want to go to the Digital World."

Takeru should have thought that about the fact that he might want to go there. The only times Aiden had been there he had been under the supervision of Kitsumon unable to do what he wanted. "That we can easily do. Any place you want to go or do you just want to go?" Takeru asked him as he watched Lee walk over to the desk in the room and open up the Digital Portal program on his laptop. Takeru had a feeling that Lee was going to tag along with them if he could.

"I don't care where," Aiden answered him and Hikari walked over to Lee to whisper something to him. Lee nodded then typed something into the program then pulled the portal up. Takeru couldn't see the coordinates from where he stood and wondered what Hikari had suggested.

"Alright, we're ready!" Lee told them and soon they were going through the portal. Once they had arrived Takeru easily recognized it as the forest that had been dubbed the Forest of Beginnings. It was where the original Chosen Children, minus Hikari had first appeared in the Digital World.

"Why did you pick here?" Takeru asked Hikari curiously keeping his voice low as Aiden looked around. Trace had tagged along with them which surprised Takeru yet he had probably come because Lee had indeed tagged along.

Hikari looked at him a smile on her face as she answered him, "I just thought this was the best place to pick. Nothing bad happens on File Island anymore since it's smaller than the contents." Takeru nodded as he kept an eye on Aiden who kept looking around. Aiden's two Digimon were now hopping around excitedly looking at everything. For now, Takeru leaned back against a tree after making sure it wasn't one of the fake hollow ones. He really didn't want to take a fall right now.

Punimon and Botamon must have found one because as they bounced at a tree the two vanished into it. Aiden panicked at first as he ran over to the tree then realized what had happened and calmed down. "That explains why you touched the tree before you leaned against it," Aiden commented as he glanced at Takeru.

"Some of my friends had to hide in one before. The idea of falling into one was just not all that appealing at the moment," Takeru told him as Punimon and Botamon came dashing out of the tree over to Aiden. The two jumped up and down in excitement over their discovery.

"Just what is this place?" Aiden asked as he knelt down to pat the two of them on their heads. The small Digimon smiled then dashed back into the tree to look around some more though there was not anything to see.

"We call it the Forest of Beginnings," Hikari answered him from where she sat with Tailmon leaned against a solid tree. "It is where Takeru and the other original Chosen Children appeared for the first time in the Digital World. I picked this place because File Island is the safest place in the Digital World. This is due to the fact any Digimon that has managed to evolve to Adult or higher have moved onto the larger areas."

"I still don't know why Elecmon moved Primary Village to Server. Here was more than safe enough for the village," Takeru commented and Hikari nodded in agreement.

"Maybe he didn't want to think about his baby Digimon having to cross the ocean when they grew up?" Patamon suggested. He was sitting on a branch in the tree Takeru was leaning up against.

"Knowing him that is entirely possible," Miyako said in agreement and Takeru nodded. Elecmon could be a bit too protective of his baby Digimon.

"So… How bad was it at school?" Aiden asked as he waited for his Digimon to come back out of the tree. They seemed to be enjoying it inside if the noises coming out of it were any indication.

"Pretty bad. There seems to be someone there trying to make things worse for some reason. The idiot grabbed Takeru today on his way through the back gate," Daisuke told him as he found a spot to sit down.

"He wasn't there this afternoon, but the parents were even more upset by the time school was over then they were that morning. Takeru thought it would be best to just go through a Digital Portal instead of trying to leave through the front gates."

"Why would someone try to rile up the parents? Aren't they mad enough as it is?" Aiden asked them and he decided to sit as well since it didn't seem like his Digimon would be coming out of the tree anytime soon. As long as they were enjoying themselves he really didn't mind staying here.

"We think they may be trying to make it to where the school has no choice but to suspend us or even expel us," Ken told him then shook his head. "There would be no reason to grab Takeru like he did then try to claim that he did not touch him even when it was obvious that he did except that one."

"Still, I want to know why they would try to do that," Aiden said as he looked at them. "What good would it do to have you guys suspended or expelled? You did nothing wrong."

"Some of the parents may want them gone or it may be connected to what is going on in the UN and the whole question of whether Digimon are safe or not," Hawkmon told him and this Aiden understood.

"I forgot that whole mess was going on…" Aiden said then sighed. "I just hope things end well there. I really don't want your world ending up like mine." None of them wanted that type of ending which was why they were trying their hardest to prevent such a thing from happening. Since no one wanted to really think more about it the conversation tapered off. It helped that the two little Digimon decided to come out of the tree and took off at a rather fast hop further into the forest and the others followed after them. Except for Lee, Trace, and their two Digimon since Lee and Bearmon both had started to climb a tree at that point.

"Are you going to be okay?" Miyako asked as they walked past them.

"We're fine. We'll catch up to you guys in a bit," Trace said as he stood at the base of the tree looking up. Bearmon was able to easily get down from the tree while Lee was taking longer. "You could just jump from that height," Trace suggested to Lee who just shook his head and continued to climb down. Trace just shrugged and waited. He wasn't in any hurry at the moment and figured if Lee could get himself up there then he was more than capable of getting himself down.

The others followed after the two Digimon as they continued to explore the forest. There were a few times they came running back to Aiden when they spotted a Digimon that was a higher level than them. They would hide behind Aiden until it either left on its own or on one rare occurrence chased off. All it took was a few attacks from the Chosen's Digimon and they thought better of it then ran off. The Chosen's Digimon even made sure that none of the attacks had hit Punimon and Botamon.

"That was unusual," Hikari commented as she watched the fleeing Digimon.

"He must be trying to gain more power in order to leave File Island. Some Digimon seems to think the amount of Digimon they beat equal more than beating a Digimon stronger than them," Aiden told her as he tried his best to calm his two Digimon down. "There were a few like that on the content Kitsumon was on that thought my two were easy pickings just because they were smaller than an average Digimon. They found out the hard way that they were wrong."

"That's one thing we don't have to worry about being Chosen Children. Give them a bit and rumors of you will spread and attacks like that won't occur anymore," Daisuke told him as Punimon and Botamon calmed down and continued their exploring.

"That would be nice when it happens because it occurred a lot more than I thought it would," Aiden told him as he followed after his Digimon. He watched as the two Digimon stopped at a rather large flower to investigate it. The way they were moving about the flower it seemed almost like they were hoping it would have a hidden room in it as well. It didn't yet that did not stop them from trying a few times before they just started to enjoy the flower for what it was. That was until an insect Digimon flew past them which they began to chase after causing the others to follow closely in case the insect Digimon got upset with them for following it. From what Takeru and the others could tell it hadn't even noticed them yet, but that could change at any moment.

They only stopped chasing after the Digimon when it flew off a cliff that leads into the lower part of the forest. This did not stop them as they carefully moved towards the edge of the cliff in order to look down. This prompted Aiden to move towards them to scope them up before they managed to fall off. "That way," he told them as he set them down to where they were facing the forest again which lead in a direction different from whence they came from. The two happily hopped off as if they hadn't stopped in the first place. By then Trace, Lee, Bearmon, and Rascmon had caught up with the others.

"Those two seem to be having fun," Trace commented as he watched them continue their exploration.

"Baby One Digimon are easily amused," Aiden said as he continued to follow behind them yet not too closely. This was because when he did they would stop and stare at him. When that happened he had to take a few steps back before they would continue their exploration again. It was almost like they were telling him they wanted personal space. It was strange to him since even as Child level Digimon if something was wrong they would instantly run to him and hide behind him. They would stay like this until they knew what to do or things became alright. They would even hesitate as an Adult level Digimon and higher sometimes when they were unsure of what they should do. At least he never had to worry about them not needing him yet he was not sure if this was actually a good thing or not. The Chosen Children's Digimon did not behave like this as they were confident in their own choices.

When they finally got tired the two just stopped and looked at Aiden with pathetic looks on their faces. It took Aiden a moment to realize that this time they were not telling him to back up again before he walked up to them to pick the two up one in each hand. "Alright now that you have managed to tire yourselves out I don't have to worry about the sugar you two ingested keeping you up all night," Aiden said to the two as they gently rubbed their faces against his thumbs in a show of affection.

"Then you didn't give them the sundae?" Takeru asked him with a confused look on his face.

"No, Lee gave it to them not too long after switching places with his brother," Aiden said causing everyone to look at the younger teen.

"What? They were hungry!" He said in self-defense. "When I asked them if they wanted an ice cream sundae they seemed really happy about the idea!"

Trace pulled his little brother towards him and hugged him with one arm. "Lee I love you dearly but remind me to never let you babysit… _ever!_ " Trace told him causing Lee to look at him confused.

"Believe me Trace after one time I doubt anyone would want him back when they have to deal with their sugar high child," Hikari said.

"What's wrong with a sugar rush?" Lee asked them and Aiden just shook his head. "What?" He asked again as the others continued their walk through the forest. Lee watched them for a moment still confused then followed after them.

Aiden's two Digimon rode on his shoulders as they kept looking at their surroundings. "It must have been strange appearing here for the first time," Aiden commented as he watched a Digimon fly overhead.

Takeru grinned then said, "Actually I was the perfect age to accept it quite readily. It wasn't until a while later that I realized just why my brother and the others were worried about coming here. By then though it was a little late." Maybe in some way, he had been lucky?

"Our friend Jou panicked pretty badly though from what I've been told," Hikari told him then added. "From what I know of Takeru's reaction was actually the mildest of them. He was actually excited to wind up here."

"Hey it was either this or spending a camping trip where the only person I knew was my own brother," Takeru said. He couldn't help but wonder how hard it had been for his mother to convince a school he did not attend to allow him to tag along.

"While I was stuck at home because I was ill," Hikari pointed out. Takeru had no doubt she would have rather gone on the camping trip. Yet unlike him, Hikari did actually attend the same school as the others. She might not have known them but at least they had something in common. "Did you ever get to go to your world's Digital World?" she asked Aiden.

"A few times when I was younger… I don't remember much about it now, though," Aiden answered her as he turned to look at the Chosen. "From what I had been told by my grandmother it didn't seem like it differed much from yours in looks at least. It might have developed differently, though."

"They most likely did being parts of a different world," Trace said as he stopped his brother from climbing another tree. He was starting to suspect that the Digimon weren't the only ones to partake of the sundae. Trace did not want to have to wait for him to climb down again. Lee didn't seem to be put off as he chased after Bearmon making the others follow him now at a slower pace.

"Was it hard traveling through the Digital World?" Aiden asked as they continued to walk. These were questions that Aiden probably would have asked his parents one day if they had survived. It was a bit depressing when Takeru thought of it that way. He couldn't even imagine what it would have been like growing up the way Aiden had.

"It was at times especially since none of us had any real food. Mimi, you haven't met her yet, had a few camping supplies, but they didn't last for very long. Jou had the emergency food supply which lasted longer while my backpack was full of candy that was mostly eaten by the Digimon. It was even worse when Hikari became sick since none of us really had any medicine for that," Takeru told him and Hikari looked at him.

"I think the worst part was actually when our brothers started fighting and got their Digimon involved that one time," Hikari said and Takeru thought for a moment. She had a point though there were other times he could think of.

"Or when we had to face Piemon with just the two of us and Holy Angemon. That was one of the few times that we actually had to fight alone since everyone was usually helping us. If you are really curious about this Aiden I have a rough draft of a book about our first trip to the Digital World that you are welcomed to read. If you don't want to read that I have several notes the others have written about their personal experiences you could read instead," Takeru offered to him thinking of his desk drawer full of the notes from him and his friends. "I think you might be interested to see just how closely we were all connected without knowing it because of several Digimon incidents that happened in the real world." Takeru offered this not because he didn't want to answer Aiden's questions, but because he would get a complete picture this way. Then again Aiden did have trouble reading Japanese so maybe he could get Kohana to translate it for him into English at some point?

"Like how I saw the battle that made Metal Garurumon and Ware Greymon evolve to Omegamon the first time on my computer," Miyako said as an example. "All of us somehow had interactions with Digimon before we actually became Chosen."

"I might take a look at them later, but what about you two?" he asked looking at Hikari and Takeru. "What were your first encounters with Digimon?"

"A Digimon Egg came out of my father's computer when I was little. It ended up being Agumon who later evolved into Greymon to fight a Parrotmon that appeared out of the sky," Hikari answered him. She still wanted to know why that had happened. It had been one of the several things that had never been fully explained to them.

"I witnessed the battle between the two of them with my brother since at the time my parents were still together. There was significant damage dealt to the apartment complex that we, the original Chosen Children, happened to live in at the same time. It was later classified as an act of terrorism since no one could explain what happened after the two Digimon had vanished. After Digimon appeared in the real world again later on the truth behind what had occurred became obvious to a lot of people, but it wasn't officially changed until that long ago," Takeru said as he thought about it and Aiden nodded.

"Did something similar happen to your parents?" Daisuke asked him.

"From what I've been told no. My grandmother told me the first time my parents saw a Digimon was when they found themselves face to face with their own Digimon partners in the real world right before they were drawn into the Digital World by them. She told me they had come looking for help and something had drawn the two Digimon to my parents," Aiden answered as he recalled the stories his grandmother use to tell him when he was a child. She would never talk to him about her own Digimon, but there were times she was willing to talk about his parents. Aiden figured it was because the only way Aiden was going to know anything about his parents was if she would talk about them. He had a few albums stored away in his grandmother's house that he still needed to pick up along with a few other things.

They walked a bit more before Hikari asked Aiden, "Are you willing to tell us which crest and/or Digi-Eggs they held?" This was something most of them had been curious for some time. A few of them had even tried asking him before yet he had not been willing to tell them at the time.

Aiden thought it over for a moment. He knew which person had ended up with what crests thanks to his grandmother. It was just that talking about his parents might bring about more questions. Most of the time he was not willing to talk about them but today did not seem to bother him as much as other days had. "My father had the Crest of Knowledge and my mother…" he trailed off for a moment as he thought about her, "She ended up with the Crest of Hope."

This caused Takeru to blink and a couple of people to stare a bit wide-eyed. "Wait a minute, does that mean the two crests, Hope and Light, switched in your world?" Takeru asked him even more curious about it now.

"Yep, Light ended up going to a young boy. The Crest of Courage went to a male as it did here though the Digi-Egg went to a female who also got the Love one. Friendship was male and he was not related to my mother while the egg went to a young male who also nabbed the Digi-Egg of Faith. The Crest of Love went to a woman who happened to be my aunt. Knowledge, as I said, went to my father while the Digi-egg went to a male who ended up with Purity as well while the Crest of Purity belonged to a female. The Crest of Kindness' owner was a male who married the owner of the Digi Egg's of Courage and Love. Like on your world Hope and Light Digi-Eggs went to the ones who had the Crests," Aiden listed them all off with the hope he remembered them correctly. It had been awhile since his Grandmother had told him all of this after all.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - This time around I am trying to break the conversations up a bit more, do better description and a few other things you guys may or may not notice. Let’s just hope I can keep up this quality all throughout this story. Also this and the next chapter are thanks to Guest who gave me a lot of great reviews on Endangered Hope as they are the ones that gave me the idea for them!


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